Strongest Chelsea line Up To Play Against Tottenham – Bench Oscar And Play Andre Schurrle

Chelsea’s month of London derbies continue as the Blues play hosts to rivals Tottenham Hotspur in what is going to be the match of the weekend in the Premier League. Jose Mourinho’s men can stretch their lead at the top of the table by seven points and with Arsenal and Manchester City having FA Cup commitments to look after, this might be the Blues’ best chance to gain a psychological advantage in their title aspirations. Will Tim Sherwood’s men be able to stop the marauding Blues or will the hosts just steamroll past their opponents. Here is Chelsea’s strongest line up for Saturday’s feisty encounter.

Goalkeeping:

Petr Cech boasts of having the most clean sheets in this campaign alongside his Arsenal counterpart Wojciech Szczesny. The Czech International however will now have to face the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Tottenham’s man of resurgence and Roberto Soldado, who is slowly getting into his groove. Cech will have to be at the top of their game if Chelsea are to extend their lead at the zenith of the table.

Defence:

Serbian Branislav Ivanovic has claimed that he is having the time of his life at Chelsea, and is expected to draft in at right back slot. Partnering him on the opposite flank, in the left back position would be Chelsea’s most consistent layer in the past previous weeks, Spaniard Cesar Azpilicueta. Both the wing backs need to go forward to put the Spurs defence under pressure and push back the wingers to deny the away side any goal scoring opportunities. In central defence, John Terry and Gary Cahill will have to wrestle the likes of Adebayor, Eriksen and Soldado, the trio who will be looking to build and finishing off moves for Tim Sherwood’s side.

Midfield:

This is where it gets tricky for the Blues. Nemanja Matic should partner either of Ramires, even though the Brazilian who has been too inconsistent in the past weeks or Frank Lampard. The English International was left on the bench during their friendly against Denmark. If I were Mourinho, I would drop Oscar for this one, the diminutive Brazilian who has lost both his form and poise in the past month, has also traveled to South Africa for Brazil’s friendly this Wednesday and a week’s rest would do a whole lot good for him.

Eden Hazard and Andre Schurrle should play on either flanks to unlock the miserly Tottenham defence, while Frank Lampard is expected to play in the creator role for the home side.

Strikeforce:

No doubt Mourinho will have to juggle his squad, keeping in mind the Champions League second leg and by all probability Samuel Eto’o should start up front leading the line on his own. Fernando Torres has been blowing hot and cold in recent games and even though the Spaniard missed an open net with his header, the former Liverpool striker set up a superb through ball for Andre Schurrle’s hattrick against Fulham at Craven Cottage.