Chelsea FC’s Predicted XI Against Everton
Nemanja Matic and Willian
Nemanja Matic has been another star player who has not been performing at a sufficient level thus far in this campaign. After being so reliable and solid last term, he has been concerningly lax in the centre of midfield. To be fair to the big man, Cesc Fabregas has been worse and therefore Matic has had to pull double-duty to cover his shortcomings as well.
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Nevertheless, Matic knows that his role is to be the first person on Mourinho’s team sheet; the player that the boss can count on to be a rock for the side. Mourinho may be willing to give him a further opportunity to prove himself this weekend and it would not surprise me if he subsequently finds himself on the bench should he not improve.
Fabregas, on the other hand, has been poor. The Spaniard’s form dipped in the latter half of last season and it has carried over into the start of this campaign. He has lacked both creativity and passing range and Mourinho could axe him for the crucial Everton meeting.
The question is who is going to play instead. Ramires was probably the first option that sprung to mind but I can’t see Jose leaving out Willian. Why would he be in centre-mid? Well, we’ll come to that later. Willian has been arguably Chelsea’s best player overall thus far and Mourinho should hold him up as the example for others follow. He has also shown in the past that he can fill the central role quite seamlessly.
Frankly (and rather unfortunately) almost anything is better than Fabregas at this point in time.
Next: Wings