Chelsea have announced their starting line-up for tonight’s Premier League game against Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge. Liam Rosenior made some big changes after the Blues lost 5-2 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League earlier this week.
The match is between two sides that want to get back to their best after playing in very tough Champions League games. With 48 points from 29 games, Chelsea are in fifth place in the Premier League. Newcastle are in 12th place with 39 points from 29 games.
Robert Sanchez takes over for Filip Jorgensen, who made costly mistakes against PSG and conceded five goals. The back four are made up of Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, and Marc Cucurella. Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez play together in the middle of the pitch, and Cole Palmer, who has scored eight goals in the Premier League this season, plays attacking roles with Alejandro Garnacho and Joao Pedro.
Sharman-Lowe, Badiashile, Sarr, Tosin, Hato, Lavia, Andrey Santos, Delap, and Guiu are all on the bench, giving Rosenior a lot of choices if he needs to make any changes.
Liam Rosenior’s Words Before Playing Newcastle
Liam Rosenior gave a passionate speech at his pre-match press conference. He told his players that they all needed to be responsible and stressed how important the Newcastle match was for their chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
After four games away from home, the Blues are back at Stamford Bridge, and he is eager to bounce back after losing to PSG.
“It’s collective. I make mistakes; everybody makes mistakes. That’s my point. It’s not all on me. It’s not all on the players. We’re a collective, a group.”
The 41-year-old also stressed how important it is for Chelsea’s long-term goals to finish in the top five, especially after the disappointment in Europe earlier this week.
“Champions League qualification is so important for your stature as a club, for what you want to do in the transfer market to compete at the very highest level. It’s what a club of this size should be aiming for at the least.”
Since Rosenior took over, the Blues have been weak on defence, and they’ve only won six of their 14 home league games this season. Rosenior will hope that coming back to the Bridge will inspire the response he has asked for before a string of important games.