Chelsea can take a step closer to breaking back into the top four with a victory over Everton at Goodison Park later this afternoon.
The Blues were in the driving seat to secure Champions League qualification prior to our draw with Wolves. We cannot allow ourselves to falter any further and see the gap increase.
Maurizio Sarri, who is heading to Goodison for the first time since taking the reins at Stamford Bridge, will have to get his starting eleven right if he wants to secure maximum points from this one.
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Kepa Arrizabalaga will undoubtedly start between the sticks. He’ll be looking to register his 12th clean sheet of the Premier League season so far during our trip to Merseyside.
Cesar Azpilicueta and Antonio Rudiger, as they often do, will likely make up the right-hand-side of the defence, with David Luiz and Emerson Palmieri filling in the blanks on the left.
Moving onto midfield, it’s difficult to see Jorginho losing his starting spot in the deepest role, with N’Golo Kante nailing down the box-to-box position just ahead of the Italian.
We fully expect Ruben Loftus-Cheek to start today, with the excuses wearing thin for Sarri. He’s fit, he’s performing and he absolutely needs to be starting for us against the Toffees.
Eden Hazard, the first name on the team sheet, will occupy the left-wing role, with us keeping our fingers crossed that Callum Hudson-Odoi will be given a chance to impress on the right.
Despite Olivier Giroud firing home a hat-trick against Dynamo Kiev midweek, Gonzalo Higuain should still start ahead of him. He’s quite clearly Sarri’s first-choice striker, and rightly so.
You may think it ambitious for us to see both RLC and CHO start today, but they have proven their worth continually over the past weeks and months. There’s no longer any reason to leave them out – even Sarri has to recognise that.
What do you reckon, Blues? Have we got it right?
