Maurizio Sarri is three games into his reign at Chelsea now, but it’s still hard to draw too many conclusions about his first XI.
The reason for that is the sheer number of players who were missing from his squad after the World Cup. Some have not yet returned from their holidays, while others are back training at Cobham, but have yet to start a game for their new manager.
The exception is at left back, where both Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri have been ready and available for Sarri since the day he arrived at the club. Alonso has started all three friendlies since, with Emerson coming on each time to replace him at some point in the game.
Given that, we can confidently say that the Spaniard has the edge over his rival for a start against Manchester City this weekend, and then in the opening fixture of the Premier League a week later.
It still seems curious that Emerson hasn’t been given the chance to play from the start, given there’s not much to choose between them – but the friendly against Lyon two days after the Community Shield should see a slew of changes – and probably a final chance for Emerson to shine before the big kick off.