Graham Potter has made two changes to his Chelsea side for this evening’s crunch Champions League group stage clash against AC Milan at Stamford Bridge – but Kepa Arrizabalga has kept his place in goal ahead of Edouard Mendy, who is on the substitutes’ bench.
Chelsea go into the game bottom of Group E. They can’t afford another slip-up if they are to keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stage of European football’s premier competition. Tonight’s match is one they simply have to win.
Potter hasn’t made wholesale changes to his starting XI; that is no great surprise, given this is only his third game at the helm. Yet it appears the English coach has shifted away from the 4-2-2-2 shape utilised against Crystal Palace in favour of a more orthodox 3-5-2.
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One of the big calls Potter had to make was over who started in goal. Mendy has missed the last three fixtures due to a knee tendon injury but returned to training last week and was ready to feature if selected. Yet the new Chelsea head coach has opted to continue with Kepa, who has spent the past two years as the Blues’ number two goalkeeper.
Wesley Fofana is expected to be deployed on the right of a back three. Thiago Silva will take up his usual place in the middle, and there is a first outing under Potter for Kalidou Koulibaly. The Senegal international has had to be patient but is confident of taking his chance.
“I knew it would be difficult, everybody said so,” Koulibaly said ahead of the game. “Even some of the best coaches in the world said so because everyone knows that to go from Italy to England is difficult. But I was ready to take on this challenge. At the moment, we are going through a process that is normal, and I am working very hard. I like it here, and I’m very happy to be here.”
Reece James will return to the right wing-back role he thrived in under Thomas Tuchel, and despite Marc Cucurella recovering from the illness that kept him out of the weekend’s match, Ben Chilwell has been handed the opportunity to continue at left wing-back.
There is no Jorginho in the starting XI; the Italian has been nursing a knock sustained against Palace. Ruben Loftus-Cheek comes into the midfield as a replacement while Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic, who had a spell at Milan’s city rivals Inter earlier in his career, keep their places.
The front two is a mobile pairing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – the Gabon star netted his first Chelsea goal in the 2-1 victory at the weekend – and Raheem Sterling.
Chelsea: Kepa; Fofana, Silva, Koulibaly; James, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Mount, Chilwell; Aubameyang, Sterling
Chelsea substitutes: Mendy, Bettinelli, Chalobah, Azpilicueta, Cucurella, Jorginho, Zakaria, Gallagher, Ziyech, Broja, Pulisic, Havertz
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