This is a Chelsea predicted lineup for their Carabao Cup clash with League 1 leaders Cardiff City. The minnows have already knocked out Championship opposition and will be aiming to take a step up and beat on a rotated Premier League squad. This will dive into the recent Blues elevens and latest team news for this one as we attempt to guess what squad the manager will go with for this one.
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Chelsea Predicted Lineup & Team News vs Cardiff
How Chelsea Have Lined Up Recently
Rob Sanchez has started in goal in every outing recently. The back line has been changed around with Marc Cucurella, Tosin Adarabioyo, Wes Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile, Malo Gusto, Josh Acheampong, and Reece James all starting in the back line at some point.
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James has also stepped into midfield where Enzo Fernandez, Andrey Santos, and Moises Caicedo have played depending on availability. Estevao, Jamie Gittens, Pedro Neto, and Alejandro Garnacho have started on the wings with Cole Palmer, Enzo, or Joao Pedro preferred through the middle. Pedro has also played up front when Liam Delap is unavailable.
Chelsea Recent Form & Tactics
Enzo Maresca starts with a 4-2-3-1 which changes when in-possession. For a match like this we will likely see something more like a 3-2-4-1 or a 2-2-5-1 with one full-back moving into midfield and another joining the attack to press and create space for the other players. The left-back’s positioning will likely shift the most and will decide what the setup is and who will be moving into a new position when the ball is in hand.
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The Blues halted the skid at the weekend with a routine win over Everton marking a second consecutive clean sheet and putting some of the worst of their recent run behind them. Goalscoring has come easily and this competition should offer a chance for some fresh legs to increase their goal contribution tallies, in particular the wingers who are competing for spots in the first-choice eleven.
Chelsea Team News
PremierInjuries lists five guaranteed absentees, while fitness will rule out some others. Romeo Lavia, Levi Colwill, Mykhailo Mudryk, Delap, and Dario Essugo are unavailable and won’t be able to feature in this one. Palmer is the other more obvious one, he is just back from his groin problem and the manager has insisted that the attacker can’t be trusted to play regularly just yet, being prioritised for the league so far.
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There are some major questions over recent starters and their fitness too. James played all three of the last matches, Cucurella has barely been rested since Qarabag, Neto has been overplayed, and Enzo has been run right into the ground after missing the last international break with a knee problem. They should all ideally be rested here but the manager is not an easy one to predict sometimes.
Chelsea Predicted Lineup vs Cardiff City
It should be an almost entirely new eleven from the manager with some players being given a rare chance to impress.
GK – Filip Jorgensen
LB – Jorrel Hato
CB – Benoit Badiashile
CB – Tosin Adarabioyo
RB – Josh Acheampong
DM – Moises Caicedo
DM – Andrey Santos
W – Jamie Gittens
AM -Facundo Buonanotte
W – Estevao
ST – Marc Guiu
Featured Image Credit
IMAGO / Vitalii Kliuiev