Chelsea XI vs Crystal Palace: Levi Colwill returns in 4-2-3-1
Chelsea dispatched Unai Emery's Aston Villa on Wednesday comfortably after Thiago Silva was dropped from the lineup. The absence of the Brazil veteran helped some, but the main issue with the midfield remains. Silva's wife, Belle, tweeted that it was time for a strange, but she probably didn't expect the change to come so close to home.
Chelsea needs to continue winning, as dropped points when they face their London rivals on Monday would open them up to losing 11th place by the next match day. Benoit Badiashile is now injured, and would not feature for the club against Crystal Palace. With Silva not likely to play, who replaces Badiashile in the starting eleven? Find out below in the Pride of London's predicted lineup.
Dorde Petrovic (No. 28) Goalkeeper, Serbia
Petrovic, Interestingly has the same save rate (68%) as Robert Sanchez does this season, but more saves per game (3.8 to 3.3), according to Sofascore. Petrovic has also prevented less goals relative to shots faced. His passing has been good, and he is doing very well for his first season in England.
Malo Gusto (No. 27) Right back, France
Gusto was very good against Aston Villa in the replay of the FA Cup 4th round tie. He provided a fantastic assist from a superb cross that Nicolas Jackson headed home.
Axel Disasi (No. 2) Right centerback, France
Disasi has been comfortably Chelsea's best performing defender this season. His passing and duel winning have been very good. He was key to Chelsea's success against Villa in midweek, and he'd continue to start on merit.
Levi Colwill (No. 26) Left centerback, England
Colwill, from Mauricio Pochettino's words, has returned from injury and is training with the team. He has not played a lot of minutes at centerback this season. He is still a relatively unknown quantity in that position, but it is his position, so he needs to start gathering minutes there.
Ben Chilwell (No. 3) Left back, England
Chilwell looked good in midweek, helping Chelsea with buildup and contributing in the final third as well.
Moises Caicedo (No. 25) Central midfielder, Ecuador
Caicedo dropped between the centerbacks against Unai Emery's men on Wednesday and helped with buildup. He was an important part of bringing the ball out of the back, though he didn't need to drop so deep.
Enzo Fernandez (No. 8) Central midfielder, Argentina
Fernandez has done many of the expected things right this season, but he needs to improve his communication with his central midfield partner. He and Caicedo should be much better at controlling space than they currently are. They're clearly very good players, but there's currently something missing from those two.
Conor Gallagher (No. 23) Central attacking midfielder, England
Gallagher will continue to start games for Chelsea as long as he continues to do things the team needs that no one else does.
Cole Palmer (No. 20) Right winger, England
Palmer is Chelsea's most creative player and the team needs him to make anything happen in the final third. He leads Pochettino's men in goals and assists in the league and in all competitions. He also leads in chances created and big chances created for the west London club in the Premier League.
Christopher Nkunku (No. 18) Left winger, France
Chelsea has not been able to field the former RB Leipzig forward often this season due to injury and reinjury. He needs minutes under his belt to be able to build any momentum.
Nicolas Jackson (No. 15) Center forward, Senegal
Jackson is Chelsea's glue in the attack. He's their highest shot taker and his presence signifies the biggest difference in attacking performance. He played left winger against Villa, showing his versatility. An improvement in his finishing would go a long way for the Blues' scoring fortunes this season.