Chelsea hosts Sevilla in the Champions League. Expect Frank Lampard to use his preferred 4-2-3-1 against the Spanish side.
Frank Lampard’s Chelsea makes another Champions League appearance, this time by his own doing. For his first Champions League game this season, he welcomes a Europa League winning Sevilla to the bridge. Sevilla is a tricky opponent; they’ve been known to give teams like Manchester United problems. Chelsea, however, should be beating Sevilla. Here’s who we think Lampard selects to kickstart the Champions League campaign:
Kepa Arrizabalaga, Keeper, 1, Spain
It may seem like another subpar performance from Arrizabalaga following the Southampton game, but the only thing that he clearly did wrong was his failure to collect the ball from Kurt Zouma’s bad back pass. This is not to say he’s at fault for the goal (though it does count as an error leading to goal) but there were things that could have been done to still prevent a goal after the Zouma back pass and Arrizabalaga did not play his part. The Spaniard has gotten a lot of heat for some months now and the spot light in beaming down on him with blinding intensity. Edouard Mendy is still injured and while Chelsea did let in three goals, the former Bilbao man wasn’t the cause of Chelsea’s misfortune. His confidence is low and a start in the Champions League would go a long way in improving that.
Reece James, Right back, 24, England
James came on late against Southampton and ultimately didn’t do what he was brought on to do: solidify the team defensively and see the game out. Though in his defense, no one did. James was probably rested for the Champions League so expect him to start. James would want to keep his comments at referees to himself in this match because Chelsea doesn’t need to be trying to push past Sevilla with 10 men. Feistiness is good, getting sent off unnecessarily is immature. That said, James has been one of Chelsea’s best performers this season. James leads the team in key passes per game only behind Ben Chilwell. He has also created one clear cut chance for Chelsea in the league from open play, which is the most anyone has created this season for the blues.
Thiago Silva, Centerback, 6, Brazil
Silva did not make an appearance for the Blues against the Saints, but expect him to do so against Sevilla. For the leadership being advertised with the Brazilian, the Champions league would be a good place to show some of it. His last appearance in the competition was a final so there’s something to be said about that. Silva can’t be said to even be a short term solution for the blues, but he, along with Zouma allowed zero shots on target against Crystal Palace and that cannot be ignored. That partnership is at least worth pursuing to see where it goes. Silva played well in his last appearance for Chelsea, let’s hope he does that in his next as well.
Kurt Zouma, Centerback, 15, France
Yes, Zouma made a bad back pass and put his goalkeeper in an unnecessarily difficult position. That said, he is still our best centerback and only known aerial threat. Chelsea was being targeted aerially last season in set pieces and conceded many goals from it. This season, however, Zouma is yet to lose an aerial duel, this is impressive when you consider that he’s faced a Virgil van Dijk and a Jannik Vestergaard already. Of players who have up to 180 league minutes for Chelsea this season, Zouma also has the most clearances per match. This shows a very good sense of positioning. The Blues need all the advantage they can get against Sevilla, Chelsea has an aerial advantage with Zouma on the pitch. In comparison, his opposite number, Sevilla’s Diego Carlos, has only completed 75 percent of aerial duels, and is considerably shorter than the Frenchman.
Ben Chilwell, Left back, 21, England
Lampard wants to start off on a strong note, so he would not want to settle for Marcos Alonso or Emerson, even if Chilwell just played all ninety minutes against Southampton. He would be right to go with Chilwell, as the English fullback has not only been defensively solid but has also been contributing equally to attacking. Chilwell has registered 3.5 key passes per game for the blues this season, albeit from just two matches played so far. He’s essential to the back line functioning the way defenses are supposed to work. Chilwell played well against the Saints, as well as you can play while giving up three goals anyway.