Chelsea face Morecambe in the FA Cup this weekend and the Blues are looking to slowly repair their recent poor form.
It appears that Frank Lampard could go one of two ways with his starting line-up. He could gift many promising youngsters their debuts from the start or provide minutes to the first team players who have come scarce of chances throughout the season.
The second option seems to be the more logical of the two. The FA Cup allows both teams to include nine substitutes on the bench and make five changes. This will enable Lampard to take advantage of his large squad and give some younger academy players some game time.
Kepa Arrizabalaga is likely to start in goal, while Cesar Azpilicueta will play at right-back for the third game in a row. Andreas Christensen is out injured, so Fikayo Tomori could be brought in at Center back to partner Antonio Rudiger. Emerson Palmieri takes his place at left-back in place of Ben Chilwell.
In midfield, N’Golo Kante has a slight hamstring issue, the Frenchman was unlikely to take part in the match regardless. A change from our favoured 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 formation seems a possibility for this match. Billy Gilmour and Jorginho can occupy the deep-lying midfield roles, while Kai Havertz plays as the lone attacking midfielder.
Switching to the attack, Tino Anjorin who has already played in the Champions League this season and Callum Hudson-Odoi are likely to start on the flanks. This will allow Hudson-Odoi to continue the fine form he’s been showing over the past few weeks.
Olivier Giroud is likely to be the lone striker. A role that will certainly suit him with the vast amount of attacking talent surrounding him.
Full Predicted XI:
Kepa
Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Tomori, Emerson
Jorginho, Gilmour
Havertz
Anjorin, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi
What killed Arsenal is currently afflicting Chelsea. Lampard in his playing days was not a box goal scorer as he scored most of his goals from outside the 18yard box. Today, he chooses to walk the ball into the net and it’s a very sad development.