One of the few lineup choices Antonio Conte has had this season is whether to play Cesc Fabregas or Nemanja Matic. Against Crystal Palace, Antonio Conte chose “and” over “or,” playing Matic, Fabregas and N’Golo Kante together.
N’Golo Kante is the essential man in the centre of the pitch, but his partner rotates depending in large part on Chelsea’s opponent. In the most general terms, Nemanja Matic has played against Chelsea’s more offensively-threatening opponents. Matic can control space and pivot the flow of play towards N’Golo Kante’s kill zone, in addition to being a reasonably strong tackler.
Fabregas, on the other hand, plays against teams that sit back and aim to frustrate Chelsea’s attack. His passing vision and creativity can unlock parked buses to send Diego Costa or Eden Hazard into deep positions.
As part of his resurgence this year, though, Fabregas has shown more willingness to play defence. When he does so, he exceeds the admittedly low expectations people have for him in that role. He is a more well-rounded player this season than in years past. This has increasingly given him the edge over Matic.
"The link-up play between Eden Hazard and Fabregas worked well, but obviously the result cast a shadow over it… Some of the build-up play was beautiful, but it just didn’t come off with a goal. – Daniel Mcclue, The Blue Lions"
The quality of Chelsea’s play despite the loss clouds the assessment of any individual player. Cesc Fabregas’ main purpose in the squad is to create offensive opportunities. This makes it particularly difficult to commend his performance when Chelsea lose 2-1 to a bottom-half team.
"Fabregas is a player that is judged based on how he changes a game with his passes, how he looks for space, how he makes a run. And that was not really happening against Crystal Palace. He was not able to reach his potential, and did not have the moments to play as well as he could have. – Rayna Sidhu, The Blue Lions"
Antonio Conte has shown a preference for consistency, particularly in the second half of the season. His willingness to experiment with his lineups evaporated when he played a Premier League-calibre XI against Wolves in the FA Cup.
Victor Moses’ absence against Manchester City tomorrow will force him to adapt. He will not make any more changes than absolutely necessary. That may mean sticking with the lineup that he used against Crystal Palace. Conte acknowledged that the loss was one of those things that sometimes just happens. He could not attribute it to any short-coming in his team’s performance, or to any individual player.
Cesc Fabregas returned to Chelsea’s lineup after a long spell on the bench to face Manchester City in October. Fabregas had a huge hand in that thrilling performance. His devastating precision against City’s pathetic defence should see him in the starting lineup again on Wednesday.
Next: Questions for Antonio Conte ahead of Chelsea's tilt with Manchester City
The question for Antonio Conte, then, will be whether to keep Nemanja Matic in midfield. Fabregas was more comfortable playing as a traditional central midfielder than in the advanced role. Pedro will likely return to right wing-back. Chelsea may therefore line up in a more stable 3-5-2 with Fabregas deep playing the ball to Eden Hazard and Diego Costa.