Strongest Chelsea Lineup (4-2-3-1) To Face Southampton: Mikel To Continue In Pivot

Chelsea are going through a period of resurgence, if it wasn’t under Mourinho this season, it is under Guus Hiddink that they have once again got rediscovered their beautiful football and they are once again making the teams fear them. Chelsea Football club reached remarkable heights last year but it all fell apart this year but nothing is impossible to amend if not completely fixable, at least a part of it can be fixed for the better. Chelsea Football Club will look to do the same.  A rising Chelsea will travel to the South Coast of England this Saturday to face an equally unpredictable Southampton team under Ronald Koeman. Ronald Koeman’s side has maintained 6 clean sheets in 6 games and 6 seems to be their favourite number as well because they find themselves in the 6^th position while Chelsea are rising but they are in the 12^th place, still unbeaten under Guus Hiddink. This is a really tough test against Southampton.

TEAM NEWS:-

*Chelsea have witnessed their share of injuries as well. Captain John Terry is highly expected to miss out on this game along with Kurt Zouma who suffered Cruciate ligament tear against Manchester United leaving Guus Hiddink to do a difficult job on the defensive sector.

* On the positive side, Nemanja Matic will return to the Chelsea bench to provide a boost in the midfield although the duo of John Obi Mikel and Cesc Fabregas look indispensable.

Predicted Line-up of Chelsea against Southampton:-

Formation : 4-2-3-1

GK: Thibaut Courtois

Thibaut Courtois will obviously be the man ahead of Asmir Begovic. Courtois has been largely impressive and he has stepped up really well when his side has needed a shot stopper. Thibaut will be looking to add to his clean sheet tally although an unpredictable Southampton may crush his expectations. Courtois still stands as a strong lanky Belgium between the poles, ready to be the saviour for his team!

Defence :-

* Baba Rahman will be the left back. There is no doubt about this. Rahman has caught not only the Chelsea fans but also the neutrals by surprise. His calculative runs, clever touches and tidy defending haven’t gone unnoticed and he will look to impress as well as cement this position in the Chelsea side when he takes on Southampton.
* Branislav Ivanovic and Gary Cahill will be the Centre-backs because Chelsea have no option apart from fielding an inexperienced Matt Miazga. Ivanovic and Gary Cahill have done justice to that position and they will prove out to be tough mettle to crack.
* Caesar Azpilicueta will take the Right Back position in place of Branislav Ivanovic, who will be moved to the centre back position. Azpilicueta is one of the best fullbacks in the premier league at the moment and he’s become an integral part of this Chelsea team.

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Midfielders and Wingers:-

* Cesc Fabregas and Mikel are indispensable as I said but both of them have to put up impressive displays to keep their names in the first team because Matic is lurking for an opportunity as well. They will be played as double pivots with Fabregas becoming a crucial part of the Chelsea attack as a playmaker.

* Eden Hazard, Willian and Pedro will be the three dangerous players looming behind Diego Costa. All the three are blessed with Incredible pace and they’ll look to tease the Southampton defence into making errors and finally score against a team that hasn’t conceded in a long time in the premier league.

Striker :-

*Striker has to be Diego Costa of course. Costa has been in sublime form playing centrally for Hiddink and his influence on the team hasn’t lessened. Costa will be looking to add to his goal tally once again and no one can count him out because he’s one of the best poachers out there in the world.

Full predicted team: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Baba Rahman,  Cesc Fabregas, Obi Mikel, Pedro Rodriguez, Willian, Eden Hazard, Diego Costa.