Chelsea fans’ preferred lineup against Crystal Palace: Mount, James, Chilwell, and more!

Thomas Tuchel faces a bit of a selection headache for the first Premier League match of the new season, thanks to various fitness considerations stemming from preseason as well as the UEFA Super Cup from a couple days ago.

On the other hand, perhaps he has just as much clarity of vision as the WAGNH Community, whose choices for the preferred starting lineup were quite clear.

It is of course a 3-4-3 with Édouard Mendy in goal.

In defense, Antonio Rüdiger keeps his spot, but this time he’s joined by his usual companions Thiago Silva and César Azpilicueta, with Andreas Christensen (52%) just missing out by a few percentage points. Ben Chilwell and Reece James, neither of whom played on Wednesday, slot in at wing-back, though we might recall that James and Azpi were frequently swapped places towards the end of last season, which could happen here again.

Trevoh Chalobah collects 26% after his breakout performance bettering Kurt Zouma (19%), while Marcos Alonso (20%) was the only other wing-back to get a decent amount of votes.

There was little doubt about the preferred midfield, with both N’Golo Kanté and Jorginho garnering at least three-quarters of the vote. Mateo Kovačić managed just 31% while Ruben Loftus-Cheek earned just 8%.

No real surprises in attack either, though Kai Havertz did put in a tiring 120-minute shift on Wednesday. He’s joined by Timo Werner and Mason Mount, who beat out Christian Pulisic (49%), Callum Hudson-Odoi (27%), and Tammy Abraham (5%). Tuchel has been putting Werner up top lately rather than wide left, which we might see again here if this trio starts.

3-4-3 (65%):
Mendy (94%) | Rüdiger (82%), Silva (62%), Azpilicueta (57%) | Chilwell (72%), Kanté (84%), Jorginho (77%), James (65%) | Mount (79%), Werner (74%), Havertz (71%)

(Romelu Lukaku was listed as an option as well, before it became clear that he would not be able to play, and he collected 32% of the vote.)