Chelsea’s strongest defense – who makes the cut?

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 12: Thiago Silva of Chelsea celebrates with Reece James of Chelsea after scoring the team's first goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on November 12, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 12: Thiago Silva of Chelsea celebrates with Reece James of Chelsea after scoring the team's first goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on November 12, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
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Chelsea
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 13: Benoit Badiashile of Chelsea FC looks on during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge on May 13, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)

Benoit Badiashile

Now we get into the potential discussion aspect. As a wise old wizard once said ““From this point forth, we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying together through the murky marshes of memory into thickets of wildest guesswork.” Badiashile sat a good portion of the beginning of the season, but is recently getting back to his form. He is a fantastic left-footed center back and faces stiff competition from Levi Colwill. I do think for the time being, Badiashile just has the upper-hand for now. He has proven to be solid and reliable in matches for the Blues and while Colwill hasn’t been bad, he hasn’t gotten too many chances to prove his worth at LCB before his minor injury.

The two will certainly be testing each other for the foreseeable future, which is good to have in a squad. However, Badiashile offers a bit more than Colwill currently can. No disrespect to Colwill as he is a fantastic player with a huge ceiling and hopefully remains a Chelsea player for a very long time, but for the time being, Badiashile gets the nod in the XI.