With Eden Hazard due to imminently return, Chelsea and Antonio Conte will once again benefit from healthy competition between Pedro and Willian.
After a busy week of international football and last minute signings, normal life is set to resume in England. Chelsea notably are much stronger than they were a week before due to new arrivals. Eden Hazard is back from his injury as well. Despite the squad rotation forced by their involvement in four different competitions, Antonio Conte will have a first choice playing eleven.
In the absence of Hazard, it was Willian and Pedro who completed the front three alongside Morata. Conte is reportedly ready to delay Hazard’s return to first team football as he rightfully doesn’t want to rush him. When he returns he will probably retake his rightful spot in the attacking trio.
This means, like the previous season, it will be between Pedro and Willian for the final spot in the front three. Hence, on Saturday both Pedro and Willian will be eager to show Conte why they deserve to be the first choice. Since Chelsea could play over 50 matches, both of them will get enough chances to start if they prove themselves to be worthy.
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Even though the duo played around 40 matches each last season, Pedro was preferred to start in the majority of the fixtures. He was clearly the first choice in the front three alongside Costa and Hazard. Pedro’s performance against Tottenham and Manchester United at home and Everton away were very crucial in Chelsea’s journey towards the Premier League title.
Willian was used more in a substitute role. But he never complained and did his part for Chelsea whenever Conte called him into action. He had some outstanding performances from the bench, most notably during his game-changing appearance against Manchester City.
Both Pedro and Willian enjoyed impressive campaigns last year. They contributed effectively in attack and defense. But it was Pedro who had the marginally better season, showing much more attacking prowess than his Brazilian colleague. He scored some very important goals as well, furthering his case to be ahead of Willian in the pecking order.
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Fortunately for the Blues, the duo have carried on their decent form into the start of this campaign. With Hazard’s injury, they are both seizing their chance to make an impression. However, Saturday will be their last major chance to compete head to head and make their claim. On the whole, though, having two top players who are happy to compete sportingly can only help Chelsea’s quest for more silverware.