Chelsea
Chelsea vs Tottenham: Two players who must not feature in Sarri’s starting line-up
Chelsea battle Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday in the second leg of the Carabao cup semifinals and they will hope to overturn a one-goal deficit.
Maurizio Sarri’s men were defeated 1-0 in the first leg last week, hence, they must ensure they score two without conceding if they are to progress through to the next round of the competition.
The Blues currently occupy the fifth position in the Premier League standing and they stand a very slim chance of winning the league glory ahead of Liverpool and Manchester City.
Though they are still in contention to win this year’s Europa League competition, that’s not going to happen with their recent form.
Having managed to reach the semi-final, Carabao competition offers Sarri the best opportunity to win his first managerial trophy. This is why he must ignore player’s past achievements and choose his starting lineup base on current form.
Should Sarri decide to name his first XI base on current form, then, Marcos Alonso and Caesar Azpilicueta should be dropped to the bench.
Both players have failed to make any meaningful impact on the team in recent matches.
Alonso’s form has drastically depreciated since Sarri’s decision to deploy a 4-3-3 formation. The Spaniard now add little or no threat to the attacking frontline and his defensive ability is no longer encouraging.
His free-kicks duties have been taken away from him while his general performance has left so much to be desired.
Just like Alonso, Azpilicueta is far from the reliable defender we all knew during Conte’s regime. He is nowhere close to the player who can help solve the team’s problem.
Both players need to be replaced ahead of Tottenham’s clash, else, another calamity is set to befall the West London club days after 2-0 defeat to Arsenal.
