Chelsea kick off their Premier League campaign against Huddersfield later today. Chelsea fans will be eager to see the new style Chelsea play, see how they perform under Sarri and also see all the new signings start their Chelsea career’s off.
Match Facts
Chelsea:
– The Blues lost their first match of last season, with a shock 3-2 loss to Burnley at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea went 3-0 down but managed to pull 2 late goals back to make the defeat slightly less embarrassing. Lets hope Chelsea can start off their PL season with a bit more of a bang.
– Looking at past clashes between the two clubs you’d expect Willian to be the star man for the blues as he was involved in all three of Chelsea’s goals when they won 3-1 at Huddersfield last season, scoring one and assisting two.
– Chelsea is expected to field two of the four new signings made this summer, Jorginho and Chelsea’s record breaking signing Kepa Arrizabalaga. However Kovacic made it clear in his first interview with Chelsea that he hadn’t been training with the Real Madrid squad as he was trying to force a move away to Chelsea, this may mean the Croatian World Cup finalist is not quite fit enough to start for the blues, however this isn’t a definite.
Huddersfield:
– The last time Huddersfield picked up a league victory against the blues was in 1963 in a Division 2 game.
– The Terriers have lost 10 Premier League games in 2018, the most in the league, only scoring 3 goals in their remaining 10 matches, picking up one victory in that time, against Watford.
– Huddersfield only managed to score 28 league goals last season, less than Salah and Harry Kane individually. This goal tally was joint worst in the League with Swansea; they also failed to score in 21 of the 38 PL fixtures.
Predicted Chelsea Line-up
GK – Kepa Arrizabalaga- although the Spaniard only signed Wednesday evening, reports suggest he will be starting for the blues.
RB – Azpilicueta- no question over this one; MR consistent in a no brainer.
CB – Rüdiger- debatably Chelsea’s best defender last year, and also best summer signing. A definite starter.
CB – David Luiz- most fans probably wouldn’t favour this decision, however I believe Sarri does favour him over the others.
LB – Marcos Alonso- maybe not a natural left back, however with the quality he possesses I’m sure it wont be a problem and also LB’s have tended to play pretty high up under Sarri in the past
CM – Jorginho- the Italian international was the heart of Sarri’s Napoli team and we expect it to be no different at Chelsea.
CM – N’Golo Kante- only reason the French World Cup winner wouldn’t start would be over his fitness level.
CM – Kovacic/Barkley- if Kovacic is match fit he is expected to start alongside Kante & Jorginho. However if he isn’t fit Sarri would probably go for Barkley over Loftus-Cheek, as the Italian coach has showed great faith in the player so far.
LW – Eden Hazard/Hudson-Odoi- if the Belgium is match fit he’ll play, simple. However if he isn’t Hudson-Odoi who has had an unbelievable pre-season would be expected to fill the boots for the Chelsea main man.
RW – Willian- Chelsea turned down many high offers for the Brazilian international that is expected to start under Sarri.
ST – Morata- Chelsea has put a lot of faith in Alvaro who didn’t really turn up in his first season at the Bridge. With Michy being loaned out and Chelsea not signing another striker, it’s highly likely the Spaniard will be starting this fixture.
