There is competition for places hotter than ever at Chelsea with the team playing so well and the head coach making firm decisions on who gets into his starting 11 this season.
Some of the casualties are Andreas Christensen, Davide Zappacosta and Emerson Palmieri among others, but the former in particular needs more playing time, to avoid wiping off his confidence and strong mentality he managed to build so well last season.
The young Dane enjoyed a great run in the Chelsea team last season, featuring 34 times under Antonio Conte but could not get into the Blues starting 11 towards the end of the campaign, after Conte revealed his central defender was suffering from mental drain having played so many games in one season.
He has found games difficult to get this season under Sarri who prefers the duo of Luiz and Antonio Rudiger in his 4-3-3 system. The Carabao Cup outing at Anfield saw Christensen, who played a key defensive role for the Blues last term, produce one of his poorer displays in a Chelsea shirt but instead of sitting him out of upcoming cup competitions, Sarri must trust him to bounce back and provide competition for his preferred partnership at the back.
As Chelsea prepare to face Videoton in the Europa League on Thursday, Christensen must be thrown right back into action, as the more games he gets, the more confidence he builds to fight for his place in the team.
