Chelsea got some of their sheen back from the 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the UEFA Champions League, Chelsea, who have struggled for most of the Premier League campaign got back to winning ways but made quite a few changes to their starting XI as they faced the Israeli side.
Chelsea gave starts to Baba Rahman, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Willian and Loic Remy from the weekend’s loss against Everton. The side certainly had a rather weird look compared to the other Chelsea teams which have been sent out for the past season or so. The likes of John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa were left on the bench.
Chelsea did have a great game but should they continue with this line-up in this weekend’s game against Arsenal?
Should some big names miss out?
There have been many who had asked for a shakeup in the Chelsea squad and Jose Mourinho did oblige against Maccabi, but the same people would expect stalwarts such as Matic and Terry to feature against their London rivals. Chelsea do have a decent record when it comes to games against Arsenal, Mourinho seems to have an edge over Wenger and that might play out in the game, irrespective of which team Mourinho does send out.
The likes of Loftus-Cheek certainly can stake a claim to the starting spot in the team, especially as Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic haven’t had the best of seasons so far. In fact most of the Chelsea team have not had a good season, one player who should be rested against Arsenal is Ivanovic, Baba Rahman didn’t have a lot to do against Maccabi but playing him against Arsenal would be a better option as he has the pace to deal with Arsenal’s attackers.
Diego Costa, who had not scored for Chelsea in the Champions League last season was left on the bench but he was a different player when he came on and won Chelsea a penalty, he later scored himself to break his duck in the Champions League for the Blues.
Chelsea though need to have big game players back into the team and keeping John Terry, Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa on the bench does not really make a lot of sense. They might not have had the best starts to the season, but a win against Arsenal would get the season back on track for sure. They do have one problem, though, the form of Eden Hazard hasn’t been all that great and Chelsea will be hopeful that the Belgian does light up the pitch against Arsenal at the weekend.