It’s time to return to the Europa Conference League with a Chelsea predicted lineup for their clash with Armenian side Noah. The Blues need to get back on track after a disappointing loss to Newcastle and a draw with Manchester United so will be aiming to blow away their opposition here.
Chelsea Predicted Lineup vs Noah for UECL Tie
How Chelsea Have Lined Up Recently
Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen share goalkeeping duties with the latter starting exclusively in cup and European competitions. The back four has been shaken up with Reece James moving to left-back pushing marc Cucurella into a rotational spot with Malo Gusto on the right, after one start on the left. The centre of the defence sees Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana as the main pairing.
Read More: Djordje Petrovic Makes Ambitious Statement on Chelsea Future
Benoit Badiashile and Tosin Adarabioyo are the second-choice central pairing with Axel Disasi being pushed out to the right. Renato Veiga also got a run out at centre-back against Panathinaikos but has also moved into the defensive midfield area.
The defensive midfield spot has been mixed with Veiga starting there along with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Enzo Fernandez in the Conference League. Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia has emerged as the main pairing, which appears to have unlocked Caicedo’s best form.
Read More: Opinion: Enzo Fernandez Replacement Impresses for Strasbourg
The attacking four has also seen some change due to tactical changes and the unavailability of Jadon Sancho. Dewsbury-Hall was asked to play on the right wing against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup in an interesting move. Pedro Neto has come in as the starting left-winger with Noni Madueke on the right, Cole Palmer in the middle, and Nicolas Jackson up front.
Offering rotation in these spots are Mykhailo Mudryk, Joao Felix, and Christopher Nkunku. There could be some more changes to this unit either for tactical progression or to fill the gap left by Sancho.
Chelsea Recent Form and Tactics
Enzo Mareca has remained true to his fluid 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 system which shifts when in possession and out of possession. In some competitions where they expect to dominate the ball, this looks more like a 3-3-4 with a full-back almost permanently inverting into midfield. Otherwise, it is more of a light 3-2-4-1 but does leave from for someone like Palmer to drop deep into the midfield to pick up the ball.
Read More: The Statistical Decline of Enzo Fernandez at Chelsea
With only two wins in the last six matches, there could be some alarm bells ringing for the Blues. Despite that, only two of those ended in defeat and one was a difficult trip to Anfield so it’s hard to judge Maresca fully on recent results. The main issue is the porous defense which can’t seem to keep a clean sheet as well as a slight decrease in their attacking output.
Chelsea Injuries to Consider
Sancho has been ruled out after missing the past two outings which is a hit to the attacking depth chart. Palmer, Fofana, and Lavia are all unregistered for this stage of the competition and so are unavailable for selection.
Chelsea Predicted Lineup vs Noah
During his pre-match conference Maresca admit that Nkunku isn’t naturally a striker, couple that with an opening on the wing and we could see the Frenchman or Felix moved out wide for this one.
GK – Filip Jorgensen
LB – Marc Cucurella
CB – Benoit Badiashile
CB – Tosin Adarabioyo
RB – Axel Disasi
DM – Enzo Fernandez
CM/DM – Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
CM/AM – Christopher Nkunku
LW – Mykhailo Mudryk
RW – Joao Felix
ST – Marc Guiu