Will Conte ring the changes?
Chelsea need to get back to winning ways quickly after a second defeat on the spin in the Premier League this weekend.
The Blues were far from at their best as they fell to a shock 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, who collected both their first points and goals of the season against the reigning champions.
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Antonio Conte’s side now take on Roma at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening, but can at least go into this European tie with six Champions League points under their belts already this term.
Still, Conte will want to see progress and his players could do with a lift, so how will he change his side to do better than they did at Selhurst Park?
Here’s our suggested line up for the visit of Roma…
Defence: Courtois, Rudiger, Christensen, Luiz
We’ve gone for two changes here, and after such an unconvincing performance at Palace it seems worth tinkering to the max if a better result is to be achieved against Roma.
Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta come out, and in come Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger, both of whom have largely impressed when given a chance this season.
It remains to be seen if Conte will opt for such wholesale changes over the stability that got him so much success last season – but with the extra European fixtures he arguably doesn’t have a choice.
Cahill and Azpilicueta will need resting at various points, and in Christensen and Rudiger they have two very capable deputies.
Midfield: Fabregas, Bakayoko, Zappacosta, Alonso
Victor Moses has been added to Chelsea’s long injury list, meaning Davide Zappacosta should replace him at right wing-back for this match.
Elsewhere, things should be pretty much the same as against Palace, with injuries to N’Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater not giving Conte much room to experiment.
Were things going a little better on the pitch for the Blues, we’d suggest throwing in a youngster like Ethan Ampadu, but now might not be the best time for the 17-year-old to make his full Champions League debut.
Attack: Musonda, Pedro, Hazard
Now here’s where Conte could perhaps afford to be more trusting towards his young players, and give Charly Musonda a go on the right flank.
The Belgian youngster shone when given his chance against Nottingham Forest recently, and is clearly itching for first-team football after his recent Instagram rant, as reported by the Mirror.
With January still a few months away, Conte has little to lose by getting the 20-year-old to put his money where his mouth is and show what he can do in his first-team.
With Michy Batshuayi performing so poorly at the weekend, Eden Hazard could then play up front in a ‘false 9’ role as he has done to great success in the past, though there has been some speculation Alvaro Morata could be fit enough to return for this game.
Starting the Spaniard seems a tad risky, however, so we hope Conte will go for something like this XI below…
Chelsea line up in full:
