Chelsea vs. Hull City: How the Blues Should Line Up in Premier League Game
Sans Nemanja Matic vs. Newcastle United last Saturday, Chelsea lost their first game of the 2014/15 campaign. A casualty during the Serbian's absence, Cesc Fabregas will miss the arrival of Steve Bruce's Hull City side to Stamford Bridge—suspended due to yellow-card accumulation.
Fabregas has started every game for Jose Mourinho this season—barring the Capital One Cup—so his rest is well-deserved, but there are questions surrounding whether the Spaniard's omission will trigger an attacking drought in the Blues' midfield.
Producing one goal and a remarkable 11 assists in 15 Premier League matches, Chelsea's £30 million summer acquisition has been the west Londoners' offensive heartbeat, losing his presence seems a certain drop in quality, and must be countered by others in the squad.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Luckily though, Fabregas' suspension comes before December's difficult latter stretch and in a home game vs. current 18th-place team Hull City—who since 1 November have played six games, drawing two and losing four.
In last season's EPL opener, Chelsea played arguably their best half of football against the Tigers, punishing Bruce's outfit 2-0 after 45 minutes, then cruising through the second half. Pressing high, giving maximum effort both ways and being rewarded with goals, one might expect more of the same 16 months later.
Playing a relatively meaningless game in the Champions League on Tuesday, Mourinho rested Thibaut Courtois, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Willian, Oscar and Eden Hazard—suggesting the six players are locks to start vs. Hull.
Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, Diego Costa and Matic helped Chelsea return to winning ways vs. Sporting in midweek, and are likely to feature from the beginning at Stamford Bridge this Saturday.
Mourinho's biggest question is what to do with Fabregas' vacancy; the Portuguese has three options available to him: John Obi Mikel or Ramires represent the first two choices, as they fit seamlessly into Chelsea's preferred playing system.
The last option is changing formations and playing Matic as the only holding midfielder in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 diamond, but this seems unlikely, as the Blues have begun all 15 Premier League games in the 4-2-3-1 formation.
Of the three choices, knowing Chelsea are probably going to play against a low Hull City defensive block, Mourinho may view the pace of Ramires to charge down players on potential counters as advantageous. Versus Newcastle, Mikel—and Fabregas—were caught behind the Magpies' 78th-minute counterattack, which eventually cost the Blues' valuable points.
As Ramires is seemingly over his thigh injury from week's past, there appears no reason to leave a man of his lung-busting forte on the bench—especially when an automatic selection is sidelined.
The loss of Fabregas is an enormous blow for Chelsea; however, a team of their quality should be able to manage without the Spanish international for 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge against anyone. While a less-than-ideal situation for Mourinho and Co., there are now opportunities for squad players to show their worth, and prove why they deserve to play more minutes in the upcoming holiday season.
Maintaining the likes of Hazard, Oscar, Willian, Costa and Andre Schurrle to pick locked defences, not having Arsenal and Barcelona's former midfielder should force Chelsea's other creative talent to raise their collective level.
Surely possessing the capability to overwhelm a struggling Hull City, there looks every chance for the Blues' to show their mettle without, arguably, their most important attacking cog.
Update: As noted by The Guardian's Dominic Fifield, Thibaut Courtois incurred a "muscular problem" in training; Petr Cech will start vs. Hull City in the Belgian's absence.
*Stats via WhoScored.com; transfer fees via soccerbase.com where not noted.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
