Chelsea FC Predicted XI Against West Brom
Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas
Nemanja Matic has been largely unremarkable in the first two games. Unfortunately, at this point ‘unremarkable’ is still better than half of his teammates. The midfield machine has done little wrong, but has done little right either. My colleague Joshua Sutter said that he has been ‘let down by his teammates surrounding him’ in his player ratings and I would agree with that sentiment.
Cesc Fabregas, compared to what we expect from the player, has been terrible. His passing range is not quite there yet and nor is his vision. To be fair, he has been hampered by an order to play in a more attacking midfield/number 10 role during periods of the two league games so far, but nevertheless his performances have been subpar.
Having said that, he will likely retain his initial starting role next to Matic based on the fact that there simply is no-one really challenging him for the job. John Obi Mikel could fill in, but this would be an overwhelmingly negative move for a meeting with WBA. With regard to Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mourinho may not want two inexperienced players covering each other should he pick Zouma.
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