Chelsea fans’ preferred lineup against Arsenal: Lukaku up front, Chalobah at the back

Chelsea made a strong start to the Premier League season with a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace last weekend, which saw manager Thomas Tuchel opting for some rotation to his starting lineup. But for a trip to the Emirates to face Arsenal, who have been annoyingly effective against us recently, fewer “risks” should be taken.

This is how most of the WAGNH community feels as well, sticking to the 3-4-3 (60%) recipe for success (3-5-2 coming in second at 20%) and staying with Édouard Mendy (97%) between the posts to safeguard the net.

There is continuity in defence with Antonio Rüdiger (94%), Trevoh Chalobah (64%), and Andreas Christensen (54%) getting the nod again as the starting trio, though the latter doesn’t beat out Thiago Silva (49%) by much. Kurt Zouma brings up the rear at a paltry 3%.

In the wing-back sector, Reece James (66%) and Ben Chilwell (57%) remain the community’s preference, though it was a fairly close race with César Azpilicueta (50%) and Marcos Alonso (39%) not far behind.

The pivot sees Jorginho (86%) and N’Golo Kanté (82%) as the two starters, assuming the latter is good to go after missing out last weekend due to an ankle knock. Mateo Kovačić did well in our last match, but not well enough to dislodge the preferred pairing.

There is a new name up front, as everyone wants to see Romelu Lukaku (92%) back in Blue and leading the charge. The one to miss out because of that is Timo Werner (51%), with Mason Mount (86%) and Kai Havertz (68%) preferred as the two supporting attacking midfielders. Neither Hakim Ziyech (23%) nor Callum Hudson-Odoi (8%) factored into the voting too much.

3-4-3 (60%):
Mendy (97%) | Rüdiger (94%), Christensen (54%), Chalobah (64%) | Chilwell (57%), Jorginho (86%), Kanté (82%), James (66%) | Mount (86%), Lukaku (92%), Havertz (68%)