Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has Jorginho’s return to consider when picking his starting line-up for Thursday’s Premier League match against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
Jorginho missed Sunday’s win at Aston Villa due to suspension, but the Italian is back in contention as Chelsea look to close the gap on third-placed Leicester to one point.
With no fresh injury concerns otherwise, Lampard has some tough decisions to make as he works out how to line up against a City side who have scored eight goals in their last two matches.
Chelsea also have an FA Cup quarter-final tie at Leicester City on Sunday, and with just a three-day gap Lampard will be pondering whether his strongest XI is capable of such a swift turnaround.
Jorginho back, so who gets dropped?
N’Golo Kante was Chelsea’s defensive midfielder against Villa on Sunday, but the returning Jorginho will be expected to take back this role against City.
Jorginho has started all but seven league matches so far this season, and was in the XI when Chelsea welcomed Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham to Stamford Bridge just before the three-month hiatus.
Kante is still likely to start alongside Jorginho, leaving Lampard – should he line-up 4-3-3 – with one final midfield spot to decide.
Mateo Kovacic could occupy that position, having also started against Arsenal, United and Spurs, while it was this midfield trio which Lampard turned to from the off at City in November.
That would mean dropping Mason Mount, but it is a difficult call with the 21-year-old starting 26 of Chelsea’s 30 leagues games so far this season.
Pulisic pushing for a start
Mount could of course be pushed further up, but Christian Pulisic may get the nod given his crucial role in the comeback at Villa, with the American scoring the equaliser on the hour-mark.
That came two minutes before Olivier Giroud scored what proved to be the winner, and though the Frenchman has been enjoying a run in the side, Lampard may turn back to Tammy Abraham, who came on for the last 10 minutes at Villa Park.
Fresh from signing a new short-team deal, Willian will be hoping to retain his place in the starting XI, although Pedro and Mount will push him close.
There is also Ruben Loftus-Cheek to consider after he enjoyed his first start of the season at Villa Park. The 24-year-old has seemingly put his injury worries behind him, but Lampard may deem City’s intensity as a reason to relegate him to the bench.
This front six of Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Pulisic, Abraham and Willian also started at City in November, and it would allow Lampard to turn to Mount, Giroud, Pedro and Loftus-Cheek from off the bench.
Defensive stick or twist
Having kept a clean sheet at Villa, Lampard could well stick with the same back four in front of Kepa given that Fikayo Tomori is not ready to return.
That would see Andreas Christensen partner Antonio Rudiger at centre-back, with captain Cesar Azpilicueta on the right and Marcos Alonso on the left.
The most likely alteration to this would see Reece James come in at right-back, Azpilicueta pushed over to the left, and Alonso dropped. Kurt Zouma will also be looking to oust one of Christensen or Rudiger, although he has seemingly fallen out of favour with Lampard in 2020.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2Vf72EA
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