Chelsea fans’ preferred lineup against Real Madrid: 90% consensus on 8 of 11 starters

A rousing 6-0 win over the weekend saw Chelsea espouse many of the qualities that led us to glory last season, and not just in terms of playing style or level of commitment, but also in terms of player personnel and combinations. Whether Thomas Tuchel sticks with what’s worked so well against Southampton or tries to tinker and pull off a tactical surprise, we’ll find out soon enough. Until then, here’s what all y’all would do.

THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE

There’s certainly not much doubt about the choice of formation or goalkeeper, as usual, for the WAGNH Community, with Édouard Mendy back over 90% after his brief blip and the formation holding steady at around three-quarters majority, 69%. Nice.

Mendy was just one of eight (8!) players to get at least 89% of the vote, with Antonio Rüdiger, Thiago Silva, Reece James, N’Golo Kanté, Mateo Kovačić, Mason Mount, and Kai Havertz all joining in him as clear first choice selections.

Marcos Alonso, as the only actual left wing-back on the team, trailed not far behind at 77% while Timo Werner leveraged his great day out against Southampton into 68% of the vote.

That left just one position up for grabs, the third center back, where César Azpilicueta returns from COVID protocol ahead of the in-favor Andreas Christensen (35%) and the out-of-favor Trevoh Chalobah (23%). I suppose Azpi and James can switch positions as well, which they have done a few times before.

Malang Sarr, Kenedy, Saúl, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all collect less than 10%, while Hakim Ziyech (20%) and Christian Pulisic (25%) have left far too many unimpressed as of late.

3-4-3 (69%)
Mendy (93%) | Rüdiger (99%), Silva (98%), Azpilicueta (46%) | Alonso (77%), Kovačić (92%), Kanté (89%), James (96%) | Werner (68%), Havertz (99%), Mount (96%)