Antonio Conte has confirmed he will play three central defenders for Chelsea’s clash with Leicester City today.
Prior to the international break, Conte used a 3-5-2 system for the 2-0 victory over Hull City with David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta as his three centre-backs, while Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses operated as wing-backs.
And the Chelsea manager is now set to stick with the same tactics, although he now faces a selection headache with John Terry available to face the Premier League champions.
“It’s important for me to see every day the shape, every day the situation,” said the Italian
“Tomorrow I have four central defenders and I have to take a decision for three, I have to value the situation – one must go on the bench.
“I love the players who always show a good spirit. I prefer that they have an English spirit because it’s very strong.
“I need them [the defenders] to attack the striker and be fast to cover the space.”
Leicester have had a poor start to the Premier League season, managing only eight points from their opening seven games and suffering heavy defeats to both Liverpool and Manchester United, putting further pressure on Antonio Conte to get a result on Saturday.
Having been unable to win the title during his four seasons as Chelsea boss, Claudio Ranieri will return to west London as a champion this weekend after Leicester’s incredible 2015/16 triumph as 5,000/1 outsiders.
But the Foxes have made a disappointing domestic start – including a thrilling 4-2 EFL Cup defeat against Chelsea – with just eight points from seven league games contrasting with their excellent Champions League form.
Chelsea have no European football to worry about but are already five points off league leaders Manchester City, leaving Saturday’s clash a key match for both Leicester and Antonio Conte’s Blues.
The big subplot to this contest is midfielder N’Golo Kante facing his former team for the first time since leaving for Stamford Bridge over the summer. Kante – worth a £30 million transfer fee in Chelsea’s eyes – was the linchpin of Leicester’s defense, a tireless engine who tracked every opponent, won seemingly every challenge to create the first touch that sprung Leicester City’s quicksilver counterattack.
Kante has made a seamless transition to the London outfit and should be fresh considering he was a stoppage-time situational substitution to help France preserve their 1-0 victory over the Netherlands on Monday. Conte held him out of the EFL Cup tie, but Kante has been a fixture in the starting XI for Chelsea (4-1-2) since his arrival.
But the Blues are still a work in progress, evidenced by their inability to beat the Premier League’s heavyweights thus far. They did avoid going into the international break with a four-match winless streak thanks to Diego Costa, who had a goal and an assist in a six-minute span of the second half Oct. 1 to power a 2-0 victory at Hull City.