Chelsea has lost all four matches under interim head coach Frank Lampard, losing to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Real Madrid twice, and Brighton & Hove Albion. The Brighton loss was the most embarrassing as the Blues were shamefully outplayed. Now Lampard has to get some results for the rest of the season, not particularly because it matters for the club, but to save his own managerial career. The west London club faces Thomas Frank’s Bees, and a variation of the three-man back line would be smart as it’s the best way to approach playing against a back three. Here are who we think start on Wednesday:
Kepa Arrizabalaga, Goalkeeper, Chelsea
CFC’s first choice shot stopper being nominated for the Premier League Goalkeeper of the season shows just how well he has performed this season. Many fans still have an issue with him, largely because of his size and the memories they have of him saving just 54 per cent of the shots he faced in the 2019/20 league season. He’s averaged 3.2 saves per game at a 78% save rate this season, which is in stark contrast to the 1.7 saves per game at 54% save rate he put up in the 2019/20 season. Fans should give him his due credit, as he has been consistently good.
Wesley Fofana, Right centerback
Fofana was not great against Real Madrid in the second leg last Tuesday, but that wasn’t all down to him. He completed 98% of his passes including 4/4 long balls. He won 3/5 tackles but won just 4/13 duels. He is a key part of Chelsea’s back line because of his ball carrying and reading of the game. That Madrid game doesn’t reflect his long passing prowess though, as he has completed just 23% of his long passes in the league.
Thiago Silva, Centerback
Silva is one centerback who doesn’t have a problem with passing. He has been injured and while his return to the side has not caused results to go up, he is still a superb addition back into the side especially with the age of the centerhalves that are likely to be on either side of him.
Benoit Badiashile, Left centerback
A silly decision to leave the 22-year-old Frenchman from the UEFA Champions league squad in February eventually led to leaving him out of several Premier League starting elevens, in order to prepare the players that were included in the Champions League squad. It looked like a wrong decision at the time but even more so now that the preferred choices over him for the squad: Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix, started the second leg of the Real Madrid tie from the bench. At 1.94m Badiashile is superb in the air while also being very good in ground duels, as well as passing and defending.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Right wingback
Loftus-Cheek has played right wingback a number of times for the Blues this season and he has done generally well. It’s not an ideal situation as Reece James is out for the season, but the 6 ft. 3 Englishman has shown that he can do a role when called upon and considering there are just seven games left until the end of the season, it won’t be an issue. Malo Gusto cannot arrive soon enough.
Mateo Kovacic, Central midfielder
Kovacic likely starts again as he looked sharper in last week’s game against Los Blancos. He completed 95% of his passes and 3/4 long balls. He also won 4/7 ground duels and was fouled four times. This would be useful for the Blues as his ability to win fouls could give his teammates an opportunity to trouble Brentford on set-pieces.
Enzo Fernandez, Central midfielder
Fernandez has been very consistent since he arrived at the club, especially his long passing. He attempted a combined 26 long balls over the two legs against the Spanish giants and completed 22 of them. In the Premier League, the Argentine has completed 7.5 long balls per game at a 75% long ball accuracy. This passing has helped Chelsea with ball movement and ball progression, which is a crucial part of attacking.
N’Golo Kante, Central midfielder
Nothing more needs to be said about Kante. It’s good to have him back.
Ben Chilwell, Left wingback
Chilwell has been integral to Chelsea’s attack as he has helped to stretch the pitch, hugging the touch line really high up the field making himself a target of cross-field passes from the centerbacks. He got a foolish red card against Real Madrid, a red card that very few Blues’ fans blamed him for, surprisingly.
Raheem Sterling, Left center forward
Sterling is very good at running behind opposition back lines and with the formation and style Brentford play with, there should be many opportunities to disturb the Bees’ defense.
Joao Felix, Right center forward
Felix has shown a lot of promise this season, though he has not been able to turn any of it into end product so far, which leaves a lot of fans baffled. Felix has probably completed the most dribbles of any attacker at the club since he arrived, yet he doesn’t seem to do anything useful with the space he creates.
Against los Blancos last week, a particular play comes to mind where the Portuguese dribbles past some players, then fails to slip the ball through to Kai Havertz who had made a very intelligent run. This is a lot of what fans have seen from Felix and it somewhat explains why his chance creation and goal production numbers are what they are. Felix is clearly talented, and combining with an impactful player like Sterling could bring out the best in him.