Here are the confirmed line-ups for the Chelsea FC’s trip to Newcastle United.
Chelsea make the long trip to the northeast of England as they look to break out of the recent bad streak against Newcastle. The teams have now been announced so let’s take a look.
Chelsea FC Team
Asmir Begovic;
Branislav Ivanovic (C), Kurt Zouma, Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta;
Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic;
Pedro, Oscar, Eden Hazard;
Loic Remy
Bench: Blackman, Terry, Mikel, Ramires, Willian, Kenedy, Falcao
Newcastle United Team
Tim Krul;
Daryl Janmaat, Chancel Mbemba, Fabricio Coloccini (C), Kevin Mbabu;
Moussa Sissoko, Vurnon Anita, Jack Colback, Georginio Wijnaldum;
Ayoze Perez, Aleksandar Mitrović
Bench: Elliot, Williamson, Lascelle, Obertan, Thauvin, de Jong, Toney
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Branislav Ivanovic yet again features for Chelsea despite another poor showing against Walsall on Wednesday night. The right-back responded well to sitting out against Maccabi Tel-Aviv with a good performance against Arsenal, but he failed to maintain a sufficient level in the League Cup. With the likes of Abdul Baba Rahman impressing in the past week, many people were expecting that Jose Mourinho would finally wield his axe and drop Ivanovic.
Regarding the striker role, Loic Remy has been given the nod over Falcao. With Diego Costa serving the second of a three match ban for flinging his arm at Laurent Koscielny last Saturday, the Chelsea boss refused to divulge who would start instead. It has materialised that Remy has been given the honour over the Colombian and rightly so.
The Frenchman continues to put in a good shift when required while Falcao has failed to break out of the poor form that has plagued him over the last year. Furthermore, Remy proved last season that he can score goals even without the benefit of an extended run in the side so don’t be surprised if he bags one this afternoon.
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Kenedy drops to the bench as well after showcasing his potential over the past week. There were thoughts that he should perhaps get the start, but with his youth and inexperience Mourinho has opted to go with Pedro and Hazard instead.
Meanwhile, there are some interesting omissions from the squad in general. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, despite a string of impressive performances, misses out altogether while Willian does not feature either. The latter has been reportedly struggling for fitness but Mourinho confirmed that he was available for selection.
On the Newcastle side of affairs, all eyes will be on Aleksandr Mitrovic as the Magpies will be hoping that he is able to keep his cool after a red card in the fixture against Arsenal at the end of August. Chelsea will also be keen to keep Wijnaldum quiet as the Dutch midfielder has the potential to cut open a defence should he be in the right mood.
What do you think of the team selection? Any decisions you disagree with? Let us know in the comments below!
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