Maurizio Sarri has pretty much settled on his team now.
We know what his preferred players are in every position, and apart from the occasional rotation – like Ross Barkley coming in for Mateo Kovacic at the weekend, the incumbents in each position are comfortably ahead of the competition.
The one exception to this is up front. Olivier Giroud got the start of the season off after winning the World Cup, so Alvaro Morata got plenty of chances to impress early on.
He failed that audition and Olivier Giroud has been the man every since. But with the Frenchman now having scored only one goal (for France) in his 11 appearances this season, could the window be opening for Morata again?
After a midweek winner against MOL Vidi, the Spaniard banged one in at the death against Southampton.
We’d expect Giroud to start against Manchester United next week, but the two are now surely neck and neck in Sarri’s thinking.
