Chelsea have to beat Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon to guarantee Champions League qualification for next season regardless of other results (unless Villa win by double figures).
It’s a huge game and will once again be treated like a cup final by Enzo Maresca and the players, but it will also be treated as one by Forest and their ambitious and demanding owner.
I believe we need all of our best players and big game players on the pitch together at the same time, starting the game. I also believe we need players on the pitch who are the difference makers and who can get a goal from nothing.
No starting Xl for Sunday is going to be ideal because we are without a striker. Marc Guiu has been back in training but has not played for three months. Perhaps he can help late on off the bench at the most, but I don’t think he’s ready to start. If he is, then start him, because his energy and pressing from the front will be a huge help as will having an actual striker rather than a false 9.
But if he isn’t, then I’d go with Cole Palmer as the false 9 purely so I can get Romeo Lavia, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, and Reece James all starting the game together. I don’t want to see any of our most important and best players on the bench.
Lavia can sit and control, Caicedo can play close to him as a box-to-box and have more attacking and dribbling freedom, and Fernandez can play make as the other box-to-box creator.
If Maresca wants to invert a full back then invert Marc Cucurella, but I’d personally go with the ‘old-fashioned’ 4-3-3. It’s simple, to be sure, we have to win, so we have to go for it.
I’m not saying go all out attacking, but our defence has been a lot more solid lately so we should have the confidence to take the game to Forest.
This is what I would like to see, but I know Maresca wont pick this. Well, I’d be pleasantly shocked if he does.
As I said, no formation is ideal without an actual striker, but this formation and starting Xl for me would allow us to control the game in the best way and have our best and most threatening players on the pitch. Where do the goals come from? Come on! Cucurella obviously!
For me, you just cannot justify having either James or Lavia on the bench in the biggest game of our season. So if we have to shoehorn a player or two just to get them all on the pitch together, then so be it.
I’m also starting Tosin purely to deal with Chris Wood in the air. Tosin was superb in our last game and dealt with the presence of Hojlund well. Wood is a different ball game altogether but Tosin is a big guy. It’s harsh on Trevoh Chalobah because he’s also been good and yes, I did say I don’t think you should be dropping players who have been superb. But I also think Chalobah is most likely to be sold more than Tosin so that could be a distraction, who knows…
Forest are having some off field problems too and I honestly think they’ve been really bad lately. They’re there for the taking if we turn up and not just for 45 minutes like we often do, but for the full 90. The only thing that concerns me really is our terrible away record this season and the home fans will be in full swing like at Newcastle, and this made our players very timid. We cannot come out like that this time.
I so fancy us for the win I really do. It’s going to be far from easy but we can certainly find goals against this Forest side in poor form.
Let’s go!!! I’m buzzing!!