A frustrating night during mid-week for the Blues, falling to a 1-1 away draw against a Frankfurt side who could have easily taken a win away from Maurizio Sarri. With a visit from Watford later today, Sarri and fans alike will know that a strong performance will have to be shown in order to win all three points.
The race for the top four certainly feels like it’s coming to a close, and Maurizio Sarri will be more than happy to see that his side are really looking like the front runners to finish in the Champions League spot. Indeed, a win later today against a difficult Watford side and it will be increasingly harder for the Blues to be caught.
With one eye on the second leg of their Europa League tie, there is no doubt that changes will be made to face this physical Watford side.
Here’s a couple that the Italian should look to consider.
Drop Jorginho
Yet another under-par performance full of passes that just add to the statistics and nothing to the scoreline, the 27-year-old was once again just the man to pass a ball sideways during the game against Frankfurt midweek.
Surely it has to be time we see Sarri make the change in midfield and allow more attacking players to express themselves.
With the physical presence of Doucoure in the midfield of Watford, there will be little shock if we see yet another game run by the Italian midfielder, it has been proven that the pass master isn’t right for physical battles, and Watford will certainly be physical.
Start Ross Barkley
After not being included once again in recent weeks, it may be time we see the return of Ross Barkley into the starting line up. With it seeming likely that Sarri would prefer to use Jorginho in the Europa League semi-final, the door may just open up for the 25-year-old Englishman and allow him to change the shape and attacking flow of the Chelsea midfield.
It would be nice to see a Chelsea midfielder bomb forward with the ball again, wouldn’t it? Someone has to!
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