Chelsea are about to take on Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge, and as always in the build up to these games, the chatter among fans is all about what team they would pick.
Last week’s game really put a cat amongst the pigeons because we saw Enzo Fernandez playing really well in an advanced position, plus an injured Malo Gusto missing out, causing a reshuffle at the back.
That’s caused a bit of a change in the thinking of many fans, as is evident when looking at the development of their dream lineups on social media.
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Enzo Fernandez applauds the away fans at the King Power Stadium. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Levi Colwill celebrates with Enzo Maresca. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
Maurizio Sarri on the touchline as Chelsea manager.
You can see one team suggested by a popular Twitter account in the image embedded here:
Chelsea with a true 3 man back line.
Chelsea with a true 3 man back line.
Fans get the setup they want
The main theme is obvious – in order to find a way to squeeze Enzo into the team with Cole Palmer at the same time – without dropping either of the wingers – the only solution is to keep Malo Gusto out of the lineup.
You’ll also note the cheeky selection of Filip Jorgensen instead of Robert Sanchez in goal, hinting at the other emerging desire of many fans. In the end, this prediction proved very accurate – bar the Jorgensen shout.
Gusto is on the bench, and Chelsea have adopted what looks like this shape. Whether it’s simply a case of Gusto not being 100% fit, or is a specific setup to combat a tactically very smart Villa side, or whether this is a glimpse of the long term plan for the shape under Maresca we don’t know.
The other glitch in this prediction is Madueke instead of Sancho. That is a curious one – we also would have thought Madueke offers much more as a wing back than Sancho. But perhaps that just proves we have no real idea how this team will line up on the pitch yet.