Chelsea predicted lineup vs Dortmund: Mudryk starts, Havertz dropped in 3-4-3
The subpar CFC side travels to Signal Iduna Park to face Edin Terzić’s high-flying Borussia Dortmund. Although the Blues have had a better UCL campaign so far topping Group E, times have changed. Chelsea have been hit a massive injury crisis and then the eventful transfer window which brought multiple new faces into the squad. The West Londoners have not won an away game since October, on the other hand, Dortmund have won every game since the World Cup break and are title contender this season.
When it comes to player availability too, CFC are the ones who will suffer. Edouard Mendy and Armando Broja obviously have a long way to go. N’Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic might still take another week or two. Other than these players who are out on a longer scale, the Blues were also without the likes of Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Wesley Fofana, Mateo Kovacic and Denis Zakaria on the weekend. According to recent reports, Sterling has not yet returned to training and is likely to miss the first leg, while the quartet might have some role to play.
Potter will not have Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke and David Datro Fofana at his disposal too, after CFC ran out of slots to register them for the tournament. Chelsea’s top goal scorer of the group stages- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is another name who is set to miss out the remainder of the campaign as he was unregistered by the club.
This is definitely going to cause Potter a headache when it comes to naming the playing XI. Ever since Badiashile joined the veteran Thiago Silva in defence, Potter has opted for a back four as the duo look pretty comfortable and reliable conceding only one goal in the four games they played together. However, the young Frenchman’s absence will force the Blues to switch to three at the back to neutralize the threat that Borussia Dortmund’s attack possesses.