It’s the two week “winter break”, meaning Chelsea have no games this weekend. It’s rather dull to not have a game, but it allows you to look back on the season so far as a whole and reflect on who would be starting going forward.
It also gives Ruben Loftus-Cheek another crucial fortnight to continue his rehab after a long injury layoff. Football.London ran a poll this weekend to find out what Chelsea fans would want as their “strongest XI” if everyone was available, and they voted to include the academy product.
Also in the team was Kepa, with more fans apparently happy to let the goalkeeper keep playing despite his shocking form and Lampard’s decision to drop the 24 year old last week.
They do agree with the manager’s decision to play Azpi at left back however, and they elect Tomori as their chosen man to play in the middle with Antonio Rudiger.
Christian Pulisic plays on the left, with Callum Hudson-Odoi dropping out too. That’s a big call, but the votes were probably very tight.
The full XI was as follows:
Arrizabalaga; James, Rudiger, Tomori, Azpilicueta; Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic, Kante; Willian, Pulisic; Abraham.
