Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino could drop Raheem Sterling who is the club's highest earner on £325k-a-week wages and go with a back three to protect his defenders against Aston Villa in the FA Cup replay tomorrow night. The Blues are low on confidence having conceded four goals in back-to-back games.
This has been a tough week for manager Pochettino who insists he got a supportive message from the owners after his role came under scrutiny following the defeat to Wolves at Stamford Bridge. Pochettino told reporters: "I didn't hear nothing in another way around. I received a very good text from them. We are all together in this. And that is the most important thing but of course they are in contact with me and the sporting directors every day."
The Argentinian manager will be without eight players for the game at Villa including Levi Colwill, Reece James, Marc Cucurella, Trevoh Chalobah, Robert Sanchez, Wesley Fofana, Lesley Ugochukwu and Romeo Lavia. If Pochettino does go with a back three, he is likely to sacrifice one of the attackers to bring in a defender which then pushes Thiago Silva who turns 40 in September to play at the heart of the three-man defence.
This week the Chelsea boss held a meeting with his squad collectively but also spoke to some of the underperforming players to try and lift confidence ahead of must win games. So with what has been obviously a challenging last couple of games, this is the team we anticipate the Chelsea boss will put out.
1. Djordje Petrovic
He's been very good since coming in for Sanchez, faces another huge night.
2. Benoit Badiashile
Comes into the back three.
3. Moises Caicedo
Not playing very well at the moment but he'll hope he gets going against Villa tonight.
4. Axel Disasi
One of the first names in the Pochettino team.