The Pride of London
Fansided

Chelsea vs Southampton predicted XI: No choice but 3-4-2-1 again

By Olaoluwa Nwobodo

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Trevoh Chalobah of Chelsea stretches for the ball whilst under pressure from Nathan Tella of Southampton during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on October 02, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Trevoh Chalobah of Chelsea stretches for the ball whilst under pressure from Nathan Tella of Southampton during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on October 02, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 02: Ben Chilwell and Cesar Azpilicueta of Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel the manager / head coach of Chelsea at full time of the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on October 2, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 02: Ben Chilwell and Cesar Azpilicueta of Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel the manager / head coach of Chelsea at full time of the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on October 2, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images) /

Cesar Azpilicueta (No. 28) Right wingback, Spain

The captain also did not play against Norwich City, not that the Blues needed Iron Man to crush to Canaries. Cesar Azpilicueta has gone into every season for the past few years with fans saying that year  would finally be the year he was phased out of the team due to his pace and age. He’s still here, on his way to being the most decorated Chelsea captain in its 116-year history. The Blues will likely need their skipper on Tuesday though as Saints try to avenge their skipper, James Ward-Prowse, who was sent off in the first meeting between the two teams this season

N’Golo Kante (No. 7) Central midfielder, France

N’Golo Kante made no appearance against Norwich City and it’s better that way. Tuchel has to rotate smartly this season and the squad depth has made it easy for him to do so. Kante is easily Chelsea’s best player and the fresher it can keep him, the better its chances of winning things. The other central midfielders are usually the ones coming in when Kante is resting, but they just played a few days ago, so Kante has to come in while they’re rested.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek (No. 12) Central midfielder, England

Ruben Loftus-Cheek had a brilliant 26 minutes against Norwich. He won an impressive five out of eight duels and completed 100 percent of his dribbles. He made what many may think of as an easy assist to Mason Mount for his hat-trick, but the thought process to judge that Tim Krul was more likely to save it if he had shot it himself, is what makes it a brilliant assist. Loftus-Cheek has played well so far this season and long may it continue. When he’s on the pitch, it’s like a bus running through a road littered with bicycles, just pushing them out of it’s way as it gets to them.

Marcos Alonso (No. 3) Left wingback, Spain

Like clockwork, many waited for Marcos Alonso to be out of the line-up—for whatever reason—before they started the revisionism around the Spanish wingback. Over the past few weeks, a lot has been said about the Spaniard, one of which is that he can’t cross. First of all, crosses are difficult to judge because a good cross is not always a completed cross and vice-versa. However, completed crosses are difficult to do, so it’s a fair judge of crossing ability. Alonso has averaged 18.6 percent accurate crosses since the 2017/18 Premier League season, Chilwell has 17 percent in that period.

Alonso has been brilliant since the start of the season, he had two bad games against Manchester City and Juventus, but then again, everyone had a bad game against Man City. Chilwell is faster and therefore, he gets up and down the touchline better, but the revisionism around Alonso needs to stop. He’s a very good player and not just in the final third.

Home/EFL Cup