Chelsea Mason Mount Olivier Giroud
Mason Mount and Olivier Giroud playing for Chelsea

Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton in the Premier League and next up, they shift their focus towards the Champions League where they take on Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16 this midweek.

This match will be played at the National Arena in Romania but the first leg this Tuesday will be Atletico Madrid’s home game.

Both the sides go into this match very evenly decked up in terms of numbers since Chelsea are undefeated in their last 6 matches in the Champions League while Simeone’s side have not tasted defeat in their previous five European outings.

Atletico Madrid are currently sitting at the top of the league table – three points ahead of Real Madrid and they still have a game in hand. But they have seen a recent slump in form, picking up just two wins in their previous five league games. Chelsea, on the other hand, have not tasted defeat since Thomas Tuchel took over.

Chelsea team news vs Atletico Madrid:

Mendy will keep his place in the side from the Southampton game but the three-man back-line infront of him is likely to see a change.

Kurt Zouma got his first start under the new boss but the Frenchman will move back to the bench and Christensen will come back into the side. Thiago Silva still remains sidelined with the injury and the centre-back has not travelled with the squad to Romania.

Ben Chilwell remained on the bench vs Southampton and with the way Marcos Alonso is currently playing, the Spaniard could once again get the nod to start as the left wing-back on Tuesday.

N’Golo Kante was another player who featured from the start against the Saints but he too will be dropped in midweek and Jorginho will replace him in central midfield. Mateo Kovacic will reprise his role.

Reece James will hopefully make way for Callum Hudson-Odoi as the manager will want to have as many attacking players as possible since Atletico Madrid have one of the most rigid defences in European football.

Kai Havertz has come back to training over the weekend and is part of the travelling squad. But we doubt if he will get a chance to start vs Atletico, especially with Mason Mount in such great form.

Tammy Abraham will hopefully be chosen ahead of Olivier Giroud meaning the likes of Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic will once again have to be content with spots on the bench.

Chelsea’s predicted line-up vs Atletico:

Predicted Starting Line-up: Edouard Mendy; Christensen, Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger; Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Hudson-Odoi, Marcos Alonso/Chilwell; Timo Werner, Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham.

How Chelsea could line up vs Atletico Madrid
How Chelsea could line up vs Atletico Madrid

Stats via Whoscored.com.

Read: Tuchel receives a double injury boost before their Champions League fixture against Atletico.

Read: Tuchel full of praise for this Chelsea duo before their UCL game vs Atletico Madrid.