Strongest Chelsea Line-up To Face Newcastle United – Bench Luiz And Start Oscar

Chelsea strongest line up against Newcastle United

An in form Chelsea side fresh from their giant slaying exploits at the Etihad stadium, now host a beleaguered Newcastle United outfit at Stamford Bridge in the weekend. Jose Mourinho’s inspired tactical reshuffle saw the Blues from London picking up an unlikely win against the Citizens by the thinnest of margins and will be looking to steamroll past a hapless Magpies side in the past few weeks. Alan Pardew’s men come into this clash at the back of a disastrous performance at home which saw them loss 0-3 in the Tyneside derby against Sunderland. Certain chinks in the armor of the Magpies have been quite exposed and they will have to be at their very best if they are to return with anything from Stamford Bridge. So what will be  Mourinho’s best starting eleven against Pardew’s unpredictable ‘French-castle’. We here at Soccersouls have the answer.

Goalkeeping and Defense:

Peter Cech should start in the Chelsea goal and the vastly experienced Czech International will be looking to muster yet another clean sheet at home. Cech however will have to wary of a Newcastle side who tend to keep their best for the biggest stages and remain focused to put on a routine shift at the glittering Stamford Bridge.

Branislav Ivanovic’s left foot gave Chelsea the win at the Etihad and the Serbian starts in the right back slot while Spaniard Cesar Azpilicueta should man the left back position dislodging Ashley Cole, who has looked quite uncomfortable in this campaign. Chelsea’s biggest asset has been their immense squad depth and Mourinho will have to choose among Gary Cahill, John Terry and David Luiz for the center back partnership. If Mourinho keeps his back four unchanged from the win at the Etihad, then Cahill and Terry will have to stop the likes of Ameobi, Ben Arfa and new Newcastle recruit Luke De Jong from scoring.

Midfield

Hazard

It will be fascinating to see whom Mourinho chooses in the central defensive pairing, but I prefer Nemanja Matic partnering Brazilian Ramires in the middle of the park. David Luiz too is a likely candidate but I feel the long haired Brazilian will have to keep warming the sidelines. Talking of the attacking triumvirate behind the lone striker up front, Oscar, Willian and the magical Eden Hazard should start in their customary roles. While Hazard and Willian will look to create space on either flanks and put crosses in, Oscar will be linking up front in his preferred number ten role, playing the pocket of space behind the lone striker.

Strike Force:

Samuel Eto’o should lead the Chelsea front-line and the Cameroon international with his immaculate hold up play will look to bring others into play. Eto’o will also look to continue his own impressive run of form and will look to find the back of the net against a shoddy Newcastle defense that has a number of weak links albeit the injury list.

Chelsea Line-up

Cech

Ivanovic    Cahill    Terry   Azpilicueta

Ramires      Matic

Willian      Oscar           Hazard

Eto