Chelsea fans’ preferred lineup against Lille: Lukaku dropped, Werner to start

Chelsea may be struggling in the attacking department at the moment but results have been going in our favour, and that’s what matters most. We look to continue this purple spell against French champions Lille in the home leg of the Champions League Round of 16.

THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE

No changes in formation or goalkeeper by the WAGNH community with the 4-2-3-1 (16%) coming closest to the 3-4-3 (53%) and Kepa Arrizabalaga (7%) coming not close at all to challenging Édouard Mendy, despite playing some of his best games in a Chelsea shirt recently.

Thiago Silva, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rüdiger did a terrific job at shutting out Crystal Palace and all three start yet again. Trevoh Chalobah (38%) and Malang Sarr (26%) wait in the wings.

César Azpilicueta (43%) is back in contention after a brief spell on the sidelines, but his uncertain injury status deterred a few voters. This means that Christian Pulisic jumps in at right wing-back with Marcos Alonso on the opposite side.

Jorginho (50%) and N’Golo Kanté started at the weekend, but Mateo Kovačić was sorely missed. So it comes as no surprise that he is reinstated by the community, alongside the latter. It was also good to see Ruben Loftus-Cheek (9%) back on the field briefly against Crystal Palace, but he only joins Saúl Niguez (5%) as back-up options from the bench.

Calling Romelu Lukaku’s (54%) most recent performance lackluster would be an understatement, but he almost still beats out Timo Werner for the third spot up front, alongside the two clearly preferred starters, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech. Callum Hudson-Odoi (10%) is probably out with injury; and the game comes too soon for Mason Mount as well.

3-4-3 (53%)
Mendy (93%) | Rüdiger (98%), Silva (88%), Christensen (65%) | Alonso (64%), Kanté (69%), Kovačić (87%), Pulisic (53%) | Werner (56%), Havertz (86%), Ziyech (91%)