Chelsea predicted XI vs Arsenal: back to 3-4-3 against league leaders

Chelsea has had bad days against Arsenal in the past few seasons, and often they’ve ironically been in moments when Arsenal was in bad form prior to the games. In each of the last two seasons, the Gunners have done the double over Todd Boehly’s men, this is one of the things that makes this match a particularly important one for the Blues. Here’s who we think starts in the London Derby:

Edouard Mendy, Chelsea (No. 16) Goalkeeper, Senegal

Mendy has played 135 minutes for the Blues in the past two games since Kepa Arrizabalaga got injured, but he has not been able to keep a clean sheet yet. He made one save against Dinamo Zagreb, an important save too, but he was unable to keep out the first goal which was a wide-open header from Bruno Petkovic. Potter has confirmed that Arrizabalaga is not fit yet, so by default Mendy will be starting until the World Cup.

Trevoh Chalobah (No. 14) Right centerback, England

Chalobah did himself justice for the most part against Zagreb, but by God, no one can explain what he and Kalidou Koulibaly were doing when Petkovic came in for the header to put Zagreb ahead. He and Koulibaly both lost Petkovic, and none of them were close enough to even defend the header. Chalobah cannot afford to lose consideration like against Arsenal, as a matter of fact, no Chelsea player can.

Thiago Silva (No. 6) Centerback, Brazil

Silva was rightly rested against Zagreb and he should be fit for this game, as it’s one of the Blues’ most important games of the season for many reasons.

Kalidou Koulibaly (No. 26) Left centerback, Senegal

Koulibaly was also good but didn’t cover himself in glory for the goal CFC conceded. Koulibaly has not been superb in aerial situations this season though he’s been good. Arsenal’s two starting centerbacks are aerial threats in set pieces so the Senegal captain has to step up his game on Sunday.

Marc Cucurella (No. 32) Left wingback, Spain

Cucurella sat out the game against Zagreb, and his replacement got injured at the end of that game. Chelsea now needs to be extra careful in how they use the Spaniard, especially because they’re not likely to have Ben Chilwell back anytime soon.

Raheem Sterling (No. 24) Right wingback, England

Sterling may well play as a forward in this game, but it’s difficult to see Potter not continuously play Sterling as a right wingback. Sterling has been poor, but Potter has insisted on putting the responsibility and attention of this poor performance on the team rather than the individuals.

Denis Zakaria (No. 20) Left central midfielder, Switzerland

Zakaria was against Dinamo Zagreb. He and Jorginho were so dominant that they controlled the midfield pretty much the whole way through. He scored a well-struck goal to put Chelsea ahead.

Jorginho (No. 5) Right central midfielder, Italy

Jorginho was exceptional against Zagreb. It’s astonishing how Jorginho did not win Man of The Match. His passing, ball-winning and positioning were spot on.

Kai Havertz (No. 29) Right attacking midfielder, Germany

Havertz probably starts this one considering he’s one of Potter’s preferred players on the squad.

Mason Mount (No. 19) Left attacking midfielder, England

Mount, for whatever reason, won the Man of the Match award against Zagreb, which is baffling to say the least. Mount did do anything in the Zagreb match, but CFC doesn’t have many forwards doing much of anything at the moment.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (No. 9) Center forward, Gabon

Aubameyang was good against Zagreb though he did few things well. He hit the crossbar with a brilliant shot though, and he completed all 14 of his passes. His pressing was also very good considering that he’s 33 now.