Chelsea’s team today is largely as we expected – Ben Chilwell is rested after returning from injury on Tuesday night, Conor Gallagher is restored to the team at the expense of an attacker to solidify the midfield, and Mykhailo Mudryk is taken out after a poor performance, replaced by Noni Madueke on the wing.
Armando Broja is also dropped, and it appears that Cole Palmer, having shuffled deeper to replace Gallagher on Tuesday, will stay central but move to a false 9 position, rather than going back to the right wing where he’s played most often.
His versatility has seen him regularly used in all three positions this season, and he’s produced goals and assists from each of them – he has 20 goal contributions across all competitions already. Tonight he faces some really physical Villa defenders, and will have to use all his clever play to get free from them and play in Raheem Sterling and Madueke, both of whom will be instructed to run in behind Villa’s high line when Palmer drops deep.
