With so many players currently out through injury and suspension, Chelsea could amazingly make an entire XI of unavailable players.
Lewis Hall was the latest player to pick up an injury in Chelsea's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, extending the list to 12 players. This came just one game after Denis Zakaria limped off whilst Joao Felix picked up a red card in the west London derby defeat to Fulham, with the January signing ruled out for two more games.
It's no secret that the Blues' long list of absentees has played a part in their poor run of form recently, with the win against Palace just Chelsea's second Premier League win in their last 10. But, five signings in the January transfer window - including the £88million signing of Mykhailo Mudryk - could potentially steer the Blues' season back on track.
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So, for a bit of fun, what could happen in a match between Chelsea's available and unavailable XI? Let's take a look.
Chelsea's available vs unavailable XI score predicted by simulation
To complete this simulation, we faced Chelsea against Chelsea, editing both teams to only possess players who are either available or unavailable. We then let the CPU play out the game to predict what could happen.
We lined up Chelsea's available XI in a 3-4-2-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Kepa; Chalobah, Silva, Badiashile; Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kovacic, Cucurella; Havertz, Mount; Aubameyang.
We then lined up the Chelsea unavailable XI in a 3-5-2 formation, with their line-up as follows: Mendy; James, Fofana, Chilwell; Sterling, Kante, Zakaria, Loftus-Cheek, Pulisic; Felix, Broja.
It was a close encounter in the opening 45 minutes, with the available XI seeing more of the ball but creating fewer chances. The unavailable XI looked threatening on the counter-attack, and a simple long ball beat the available XI's high line as Christian Pulisic scored the opener.
With the available XI pressing high, Reece James picked up possession deep in his half and played a one-two with N'Golo Kante before launching a pass forward. The ball looped over the head of Benoit Badiashile and the defender was beaten for pace by Pulisic, who fired a powerful strike across goal and into the far corner of the net.
Joao Felix helped combine the midfield and attack well with his quick passing and dribbling in the space behind Armando Broja, and the Portuguese international struck the post after 39 minutes with a long-range effort. The unavailable XI started to control the game towards the end of the half, and they doubled their lead through Denis Zakaria.
The unavailable XI's midfield was overrunning the available XI's midfield, with Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho struggling to track runners from deep. Zakaria burst forward unmarked to latch onto Felix's through ball and as the midfielder entered the box, he fired into the bottom corner for 2-0.
The available XI's best chance of the game came in the 60th minute when Thiago Silva met Mason Mount's corner at the back post, but his looping header across goal hit the post and fell into the arms of Edouard Mendy. As the game went on, the available XI got more desperate as they searched for a route back into the game, and the unavailable XI capitalised, making it 3-0 on the break.
Kante did fantastically well to break up play when the available XI were pushing forward in numbers, allowing his side to then outnumber the available XI as they charge towards goal. His pass into the feet of Ruben Loftus-Cheek was flicked on to Broja, and after taking the ball away from Badiashile, he powered his shot into the bottom corner to confirm victory.
FIFA 23 predicted score: Chelsea available XI 0-3 Chelsea unavailable XI
Here are the full-time match stats:
FIFA 23 predicts that the unavailable Chelsea XI could beat the available XI 3-0, showing the quality of players who are currently missing from the Blues' squad. The likes of Kante, James, Felix and Sterling all starred in the simulation, showing that it will be worth giving Potter time to work with his full squad when they all return from their absence.
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