Chelsea will play Luton Town champions in the FA Cup on Sunday, as Frank Lampard wants to get the season back on track. Winning a nostalgic trophy like the FA Cup will definitely not be a bad thing, especially after falling on the last hurdle last season, and with some of the big teams already eliminated.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE
It finally happened. The WAGNH community had enough of the 4-3-3 (37%) and opted for the 4-2-3-1 for the first time in some time, albeit by only a few percentage points. The 4-4-2 (13%) and 3-4-3 (8%) receive a small amount of votes.
At the goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga comes in front of Édouard Mendy (30%) in the cup match. Willy Caballero (5%) and Petr Čech (3%) split the rest.
The defense sees a predictable fluctuation as the back four of the last game, Thiago Silva (25%), Toni Rüdiger (39%), Reece James (40%) and Ben Chilwell (28%), make way for Andreas Christensen, Emerson, César Azpilicueta and Kurt Zouma. Fikayo Tomori (7%) is sadly gone; Marcos Alonso (10%) will probably be on his way soon as well.
In the double pivot – memes, meet! – Billy Gilmour and Mason Mount anchor the midfield, while N’Golo Kanté (5%) is left with an injury and Mateo Kovačić (33%) falls below the track mark after a few performances. Jorginho (39%) may not be a community preference, but he may be a realistic choice for Lampard.
Kai Havertz plays his favorite number 10 role, with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Hakim Ziyech playing on either side of him. Christian Pulisic (36%) should rest here, while Tino Anjorin (28%) can get off the bench. Timo Werner leads the line ahead of Tammy Abraham (35%) and Olivier Giroud (9%).
4-2-3-1 (40%)
Arrizabalaga (63%) | Emerson (63%), Zouma (79%), Christensen (54%), Azpilicueta (62%) | Mount (42%), Gilmour (90%) | Hudson-Odoi (69%), Havertz (78%), Ziyech (58%) | Werner (72%)
MY PREFERRED CHOICE
I also took the opportunity to change the formation, as it seems clear that the three-man midfield is not working right now.
I did make a change in the community’s choice by swapping Jorginho for Mount. Mason was undoubtedly one of Chelsea’s last players and he deserves a break here. The Gilmour-Jorginho partnership looks intriguing and should be more than capable of doing the job, especially since Luton are likely to sit back.
You could argue for Anjorin to start with one of the other names chosen by the community to attack, but I’m one of the two happy things – ‘happy’ is a bit of an ambiguous term these days as Chelsea trailer.
4-2-3-1
Arrizabalaga | Emerson, Zouma, Christensen, Azpilicueta | Jorginho, Gilmour | Hudson-Odoi, Havertz, Ziyech | Werner