The ground is quickly shifting underneath Antonio Conte’s feet.
Chelsea suffered a shock defeat at the hands of West Ham on Saturday and thanks to a 2-1 victory of Manchester City during the Manchester Derby, the Blues now find themselves 14 points behind the table toppers.
And this alone could be the reason that Roman Abramovich searches for a new manager before the current campaign comes to an end. Chelsea have no hope whatsoever of defending their title and now their biggest aim should be to consolidate that top four spot.
The Blues travel to the John Smith’s Stadium on Tuesday to take on Huddersfield and the Blues must win and must do so with some authority in order to get confidence under their belt.
Here’s the Chelsea predicted line-up against Huddersfield:
GOALKEEPER:
Thibaut Courtois will be in goal on Tuesday.
Thibaut Courtois
DEFENCE:
Chelsea will be without the services of defender David Luiz as the Brazilian has still not recovered from his ankle injury. This means that Conte will once again have only one spare defender at his disposal. And we hope that the Italian will likely his captain Gary Cahill for the match meaning summer signing Antonio Rudiger will come into the line-up alongside Christensen and Azpilicueta.
Rudiger – Christensen – Azpilicueta
MIDFIELD:
Zappacosta started the match on Saturday against the Hammers and he is likely to be rested during the midweek fixture meaning that Victor Moses will return back to the starting line-up in his familiar right wing-back role. Marcos Alonso who was withdrawn just after the half-hour mark on the weekend will hopefully reprise his position on the left flank.
Danny Drinkwater missed the West Ham fixture due to an illness and will also be unavailable against Huddersfield. Meaning that Chelsea will line up with the familiar duo of Fabregas and Kante in midfield.
Alonso – Fabregas – Kante – Moses
ATTACK:
Alvaro Morata and Eden Hazard will be automatic selections for the Tuesday night game whereas Pedro is slated to return to the starting XI after having come on as a half-time substitute in place of Tiemoue Bakayoko during the West Ham defeat.
Hazard – Morata – Pedro
