Chelsea host Newcastle on Saturday at Stamford Bridge, hoping to continue their unbeaten run under Guus Hiddink. Since the appointment of Hiddink, Chelsea are undefeated in their last 11 matches, most previous one being a 1 – 1 draw against Manchester United last weekend.
Defender Kurt Zouma looks likely to miss the remainder of the season after suffering cruciate ligament damage against United. Diego Costa who scored late on to deny United all three points is likely to keep his place in the starting eleven at the expense of new signing Alexandre Pato.
Here are the possible starting XI that Hiddink might deploy against the Magpies.
The Belgian was struggling between the sticks recently but was back to his best against United, pulling of some amazing saves to deny Rooney and company. He is still Chelsea’s number one keeper and should keep his place in the side, if not injured.
Hiddink will have to bring in Cahill alongside John Terry for the clash against Newcastle, after Kurt Zouma suffered a season ending injury against the Red Devils. Cahill should see this as an opportunity to cement his place in the Chelsea team as well as the national team. Terry announced recently that he hasn’t been asked to stay longer at Chelsea, hence will most likely leave this summer. Although he still remains one of the best defenders in the league. Ivanovic and Azpilicueta will continue as the two full backs. Ivanovic’s start to this season was disastrous but recently he has shown signs of improvement which is good news for the Chelsea hopefuls.
We expect Hiddink to stick to the midfield which started against United on Sunday, which means Hazard will have to be content with a place on the bench again. Willian has been the player of the season for the Blues and deserves his place in the team. On the other hand the link up play between Fabregas and Costa has improved significantly after a poor start to the season, therefore it is unlikely that Hiddink will want to change that combination. Matic is improving slowly but is still not the solid figure he was last season. Oscar and Mikel will make up the rest of the midfield.
One player who has benefitted a lot with the departure of Jose Mourinho is Spanish striker Costa. He has started producing goals more frequently and is definitely a handful for the opposition defenders.
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