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3-4-2-1 Chelsea’s predicted XI vs Man City: Timo Werner to return in attack?

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Reece James

Chelsea managed to get past Porto in the quarter-finals thereby keeping their Champions League hopes still alive. But now, they will have to shift their focus to the FA Cup where they take on Manchester City in the semi-final.

Tuchel has managed to turn Chelsea into one of the most formidable sides in the English top division right now but his personal record against Pep Guardiola is not too great. In their past five meetings, Guardiola has come out on top, four times.

The Blues have an almost fully fit squad to choose from this weekend and we have a feeling this will be attack vs defence since under Tuchel, Chelsea have made it a habit of keeping clean sheets and conceding minimum goals.

The manager is not expected to experiment with his formation too much and should go with his tried and tested 3-4-2-1 system but we could see some rotations since Manchester City play an ultra attacking game.

Chelsea team news vs Manchester City:

Kepa Arrizabalaga is the first-choice keeper for the cup competitions for Chelsea but it will be interesting to see if the manager opts to keep faith on the Spaniard on Saturday as well or does he use Edouard Mendy.

Christensen has not put a foot wrong under Thomas Tuchel but the return of Thiago Silva from suspension has pushed him to the bench. Silva started in central defence vs Porto in midweek and the Brazilian is expected to keep his place vs City also, since the manager will need that experienced head at the back.

Kovacic missed the second leg of the Champions League game with a hamstring injury and he will be unavailable for the FA Cup clash as well. This means N’Golo Kante and Jorginho will pair up in defence midfield.

Earlier this week, the manager had said: “I was very sad yesterday to see him after 20 mins in training to have this little muscle injury more or less out of nothing. He felt his hamstring. So he is for sure out of the game vs City.”

Marcos Alonso and Ben Chilwell are having a great tussle for that left wing-back role and to be fair, either one of them could get a start vs Man City. But since Alonso is not that great going back we feel Tuchel will put his faith Ben Chilwell on Saturday.

Christian Pulisic has really come off age in the past few weeks and the American international should be starting alongside Mason Mount in a more advanced role.

Timo Werner, Olivier Giroud and Tammy Abraham are all fit for selection but Thomas Tuchel seems to be relying on Kai Havertz to lead the line. And on Saturday the Chelsea boss might do the same.

Chelsea’s predicted XI vs Manchester City:

Predicted Starting Line-up:  Edouard Mendy; Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Azpilicueta; Ben Chilwell, Kante, Jorginho, Reece James; Mason Mount, Pulisic, Kai Havertz.

Read: Is this Chelsea-linked player on his way to Man United in the summer?

Read: Man City’s team news vs Chelsea in the FA Cup.

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