Strongest Chelsea line-up to face Sunderland

Jose Mourinho

Chelsea will travel to the Stadium of lights on Wednesday night to face Sunderland as they look to build on their win against Southampton last weekend. The Blues have just managed to win 2 out of their six away matches, but 3 points against a lowly Sunderland side would mean that they can maintain the pressure at the top of the table.

Meanwhile former Chelsea player himself, Gus Poyet will be hoping to get one over his former team. Sunderland picked up a point against Aston Villa last week and the same result would give a world of confidence for the Black Cats.

Having dropped crucial points against Newcastle and West Brom the Blues picked 3 points against Southampton but there lies a sense of vulnerability within the team as Jose Mourinho is yet to find his perfect XI. Against the Saints, Mourinho opted out Lampard and started Essien which turned out to be a blunder as the Ghanian gifted the away team the opening goal, which meant that Chelsea had to come from behind to win the game.

So this time around as one would expect Essien might find his place on the bench. Chelsea are 4 points adrift of Arsenal and breathing down their neck sitting firmly at second place and cannot afford further slip-ups as they enter the crucial December month where games would come thick and fast.

While there has been plenty of talk about the starting XI and the best formation that Mourinho should deploy, there has not been many answers to it.

Defence

If there is one thing that the Portuguese manager can be assured of it is the performance of his defenders. The back four can continue with the partnership of Cahill and Terry with the latter scoring a goal last time around, there are not real concerns at the back and Petr Cech will continue in goal as well. Ivanovic will take up his place at right back while Ashley Cole might just return to take his place at the left.

Midfield

Well, not many can predict the exact midfield line-up that Mourinho might assemble for a match given the plethora of midfielders available. But Oscar’s injury will mean that Mata will play in the no. 10 role and Essien’s poor performance rules out the possibility of him starting again, which Leaves Ramires and Lampard in the anchor role behind Juan Mata.

Forwards

Although Ba scored against the Saints, when Torres is fit, the Chelsea manager tends to start the Spaniard ahead of Ba. On the wings, expect Hazard to take the right flank while Schurrle has a good chance of getting into the first team on the left side.