Chelsea face Pafos at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League in just over an hour, and the teams are in!
Here are the full team line-ups for Chelsea vs Pafos (kick off at 20:00 GMT)
CHELSEA:
Well isn’t that an interesting lineup? Liam Rosenior has gone pretty much full strength for his first Champions League game. There are a few notable exceptions of course.
It seems a little off to play backup goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen, for one. Goalkeeper don’t need their minutes managed in the same way as an outfield player, and this is a home game with no travel. If you’re going with a strong side, why not keep Robert Sanchez in?
In the back line, Malo Gusto returns from injury, as we expected, with Benoit Badiashile in the team to give Trevoh Chalobah a rest. Wesley Fofana plays, despite having come on as a sub in midweek.
We were sure Reece James would get a rest – instead he’s called into action alongside Moises Caicedo. That pushes Enzo Fernandez (another we thought might miss out) forward to give Cole Palmer a break. He’s not even on the bench, by the way.
Then the front line is what looks like Rosenior’s first choice at the moment – Liam Delap, Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto. That means no Estevao, a big let down for everyone at Stamford Bridge.
In other news…
It’s clear who Chelsea want to buy this January, but we can’t see a deal happening unless there’s suddenly some movement on the outgoing side too – and that doesn’t look too likely right now.
We’re now a few years into Chelsea’s buy low, sell high strategy. And the bill is coming due – how will it work out? It sounds like this summer is contract crunch time.
