Chelsea host Manchester City tonight in the Premier League for their first game at Stamford Bridge in 2023.
The Chelsea Chronicle has attempted a predicted Blues line-up to face Man City, which includes three changes from the side that could only manage a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest last weekend.
Graham Potter’s side will go into Thursday night’s contest as underdogs against the reigning champions, who they face again on Sunday in the FA Cup third round. However, there’s a lot of pressure to get a result given the Blues have slipped to 10th in the league table.
Predicted Chelsea line-up against Manchester City
Chelsea have lost their last three consecutive games across all competitions against tonight’s opponent. They did win all three matches prior to that, though.
There will need to be a big improvement in performance from the Forest draw, so we expect a few alterations against Man City.
GK and defence
Potter confirmed yesterday that goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is still “not fully fit”, so we expect Kepa Arrizabalaga in-between the sticks again.
Injuries to key players mean Cesar Azpilicueta and Marc Cucurella could keep their positions as the full-backs in the back four.
Thiago Silva, who looks head and shoulders above most of his teammates right now, will play again at centre-back.
The first of three changes does see 23-year-old Trevoh Chalobah replace Kalidou Koulibaly, with the latter really struggling for form right now.
Midfield
There’s a lot of transfer speculation right now around Chelsea recruiting more midfielders this month, but for now they’ve got to stick with what they have.
Jorginho seems like the most likely deep-lying midfielder still.
Meanwhile, Mateo Kovacic replaces Denis Zakaria in the centre of the park to bring his experience and quality against Man City.
Finally, Mason Mount keeps his position as the attacking midfielder.
It will be interesting to see if Potter fancies using the energy and hustle of Conor Gallagher tonight, but he’s mainly been used as a bench option lately.
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty ImagesAttack
Finally, we can picture Blues winger Hakim Ziyech, 29, getting a rare start this evening. He could come into the starting line-up at the expense of Christian Pulisic.
Ziyech has started one league match all season, proving to be very out of favour. His World Cup form surely has to count for something, though.
That leaves Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz to complete the attacking trio.
KepaAzpilicueta Chalobah Silva CucurellaKovacic Jorginho MountZiyech Havertz Sterling
IN: Trevoh Chalobah, Mateo Kovacic, Hakim ZiyechOUT: Kalidou Koulibaly, Denis Zakaria, Christian Pulisic
[READ NEXT] Chelsea new kit ‘leaks’ as Blues go back to their roots with latest Nike strip
Chelsea new kit: The Blues’ third kit for the 2023/24 season has ‘leaked’ online, paying homage to the club’s roots.
Chelsea will pay homage to the club’s roots with their third kit for the 2023/24 season after ‘leaks’ surfaced online. Images have emerged of the Blues’ alternate strip for Graham Potter’s first full season as manager, and it’s likely to be a welcome addition to many fans’ collections.
Footy Headlines have published a ’90 per cent accurate’ remake of the planned third kit, with only ‘small’ details of the collar and sleeves differing from the official design.
Nike will make the modern-looking strip, which possesses a mint foam colour with a black accent and light grey colour shade used for graphic detailing.
It is expected to be available for purchase from September 2023, earlier than the October 2022 release of this season’s third kit, thwarted by delivery and manufacturing issues.
The strip’s clean look should go down well with the majority of the fanbase, but it could strike a chord with Chelsea’s longer-term support, in particular.
The Blues are going back to their roots with the design, with their first-ever kit in the 1905/06 season draped in mint blue due to the club’s first president.
Chelsea new kit: The Blues will pay homage to their roots next season. (Image: FOOTY HEADLINES)
Chelsea made their original strip mint-coloured because of the Earl of Cadogan’s horse racing hobby.
Racing Colours of Lord Cadogan’s racing colours were Eton blue and white, but Chelsea only wore the same for their football kit for one year.
They then changed to the blue and white against Lincoln City on October 13, 1906, the combo that the club is globally linked with today.
After the Blues initially selected a mint-coloured home kit, they didn’t opt for the same colour again for their away or third attire for 80 years.
Chelsea new kit: Graham Potter’s side will rock a mint-coloured third kit. (Image: FOOTY HEADLINES)
In 1986, they released a mint away kit, made in-house, before Umbro took charge of making their kits a year later and produced a mint green third strip.
More recently, Adidas released a black and mint goalkeeper kit for the 2010/11 season, the first time the club’s No 1 wore the colour.
And they returned to mint in the 2015/16 campaign, making it the primary goalkeeper colour in between Chelsea’s title wins in 2015 and 2017.
Todd Boehly and the club’s other stakeholders will hope they can wear the kit in the Champions League after a dismal start to the current campaign, sitting 10 points outside the top four after 16 games.
SOURCE: thechelseachronicle.com, express.co.uk
