EPL 2018/19: How Chelsea might line up this season.

Antonio Conte has left the club after guiding them to a league title and a league cup in 2 years. What he could not do was to qualify the Blues for this season’s Champions League. The Blues did qualify for the Europa League and now they will hope to secure that title along with the Premier League and the League Cups.

In order to accomplish these goals, the Blues brought in Mauro Sarri this season, from Napoli and replaced Antonio Conte as in-charge of Chelsea. With Sarri on board, the Chelsea fans will surely see a change in the formation and the 3 at the back preferred by Conte will not feature anymore.

Having gone through the preseason with most of his star players off duty, Sarri will look to train the players returning from vacation as soon as possible and make them acquainted with his style. Sarri will bring his preferred 4-3-3 with him to compliment his free-flowing attacking game and we will look into the probable starting XI accordingly.

Goalkeeper- Kepa Arrizabalaga

Thibaut Courtois left Chelsea for Real Madrid this season for 35 million euros and received Mateo Kovacic on loan. Kovacic did not solve the problem the Blues had in the goalkeeping position. To fill the void left by the Belgian, they went to Spain and bought an upcoming yet experienced talent. Kepa Arizzabalaga was the second choice goalkeeper behind David De Gea for Spain this year in Russia. The 23 year old has been touted to replace him in coming years and that process might begin early as impressing in the Chelsea shirt will enhance his chances of doing so. Kepa signed for a world record fee for a goalkeeper,i.e. 72 million euros and Chelsea fans and the board will hope that he is worth every penny they've spent on him.

Chelsea signed Kepa Arrizabalaga for a world record fee for a goalkeeper

Willy Caballero and summer signing Rob Green provide good enough backup for the young Spaniard but it will be the former Athletic Bilbao man who will play between the sticks for the Blues this season and hopefully for many seasons to come.

Defence- Azpilicueta, Rudiger, David Luiz, Marcos Alonso

RB: Cesar Azpilicueta

After spending 2 seasons in the center of the defence, Azpi will start this season on the right flank of the defence, his preferred position. Azpi is known for his one on one defending and will be crucial for the team given the way Sarri uses the wings. He has been great at defence and offence throughout the past seasons and has a great connection with his team’s attackers. Another in line for the starting position is Davide Zappacosta. The Italian regularly featured in Conte’s team but was threatened by Victor Moses. Zappacosta was signed last year and will look to improve on his game time this season but that will be made difficult due to Azipilicueta’s change in role.

David Luiz will look to repay Sarri's trust in him shown during the preseason

CB: David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger

The preseason has shown certain developments in how Chelsea will line up and how will they play this season. Much like Guardiola, Mauro Sarri’s game play requires centre backs that are good with the ball at their feet and given the way he has played in the preseason, David Luiz seems to have cemented his place in the starting XI after being boycotted by Antonio Conte for his last season. He was linked with a move away from the Stamford Bridge but seems to have been reassured by his coach that he is important to him and the team.

Another man on the charts to start for Mauro Sarri this season is Antonio Rudiger. The German had a mixed season last year and was criticized for most of his performances. Apparently he needed time to settle in England. His performances bettered as the season went on and he was a prominent figure in the back 3 of Conte’s formation at the back-end of the season. Rudiger has developed and will be in contention to start for Sarri.

Gary Cahill will hope to start the games ahead of Rudiger but given his age and Rudiger’s superior confidence on the ball, it is highly unlikely that he will feature more than the German. The likes of Christensen and Ampadu will get more game time as Sarri is known to put trust in youngsters that are ready to shine.

LB: Marcos Alonso

Alonso was an undisputed starter in Conte’s favored XI, returning the favor by scoring goals and assisting his team-mates. Despite his attacking contributions, his season was a mix of ups and downs as his defensive qualities were brought under question by certain attacking teams. After being snubbed by his National team, Alonso is likely to start in Sarri’s XI and closely following him for the starting position will be Emerson. The Italian signed during the winter transfer window but did not feature a lot, making 5 appearances throughout the season. He will look to dethrone the Spaniard of his starting place, but he is likely to play the backup role only.

Midfield: Kante, Jorginho, Barkley

This season at Chelsea will be very interesting. Among various reasons, one reason is Chelsea’s midfield trio. Sarri’s Napoli showed that he likes to play with one player at the base of the midfield that regulates the play and the tempo, along with connecting with both the sides of attack. Jorginho was that player at Napoli and he brought the same guy with him to London. His game with the left side of Napoli’s attack was better than that with the right side and that left side consisted of Hamsik, Insigne and Rui. Singing him means that Kante has someone to look over his shoulder. What is intriguing this season is how Sarri will use both of them together; maybe he’ll give Kante to one side of the attack and Jorginho to the other as they are defensively astute and can pass the ball well.

Another aspect of Sarri’s midfield is that he uses one attacking midfielder that plays the defence piercing ball in the final third of the pitch and that person in this Chelsea team is Ross Barkley. The English midfielder signed from Everton last season but did not feature much. His place will be under threat given the recent loan move of Mateo Kovacic from Real Madrid. The Croatian moved away from Santiago Bernabeu for the sole purpose of getting more game time under his belt. Kovacic will a role in Sarri's setup but he will be an apprentice to the likes of Kante as his playing style is quite similar to the Frenchman and he is still an unfinished product. This will give more opportunity to Barkley to impress as he will be given more time under Sarri than he was given under Conte. Barkley has impressed in the preseason and will continue to prove his worth to the Italian and cement his place in the team.

World Cup winner Kante will look forward to playing under Sarri this season

The most Sarri-like player in the Chelsea roster is N'Golo Kante. The Frenchman is a player that any manager, regardless of the tactics, would like to have. But to have Kante as a player when you are Sarri, is just a match made in heaven. Kante runs all day long. He covers a lot of ground and has been vital for Chelsea and Leicester City in their respective Premier League winning campaigns and for France in this year's World Cup win. Sarri's game-play will suit the French as he tends to press as soon as the ball arrives at the feet of his opposition and look for a defence splitting forward pass.

It is highly likely that Kovacic may form a part of the trio at the end of the season, but for now, Barkely is becoming a Sarri favourite and will start in front of the likes of Fabregas, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Danny Drinkwater.

Forwards: Willian, Morata, Hazard

Out of the predicted 3, 2 were rumored to move away from the club. Willian and Hazard were the two most dangerous players on the pitch for Chelsea last season. Willian's performance against Barcelona was so good that Valverde tried to sign the Brazilian during the summer window. Willian brings the energy along with the speed and creativity that is required in a Sarri team. He fell out with Antonio Conte but has been reassured by Sarri that he has a place in Sarri's plans for the season. Expect Sarri to stay on his words and give Willian a lot of game time.

Alvaro Morata has been dubbed as the next Fernando Torres for bad reasons. He has not been able to replicate his form for Real Madrid in their league winning season and was not impressive in their Community Shield match against Machester City. He has been accussed of loosing the ball too easily and not being the finisher he is supposed to be. Given the number of goals Sarri's forwards score, this might turn out to be the year for Morata to prove his worth to the board and the fans. He will play more often than Olivier Giroud given his ability to link up play and Sarri-tactic like way of playing the game.

Eden Hazard was linked to a move away from Chelsea

Eden Hazazrd had a phenomenal World Cup. Although he did not win any accolade, he was omnipresent for his team and was monumental in Belgium's 3rd place finish. His performance saw him ever so close with a dream move to Real Madrid, only to see Chelsea scare the Spanish giants with a 200 million euro price tag. In a season where Chelsea finished 6th, Hazard was the main man in getting them there and his performance reflected the teams performance. Given that the English transfer window is closed,meaning that no club can sign any player but can offload the players, it is highly unlikely that Chelsea will let their best player leave without having the opportunity to replace him. Hazard will get lots of assists and goals in Sarri's free-flowing game-play.

Even though Pedro has impressed during the preseason, he will be the secondary choice behind Willian and Hazard. Callum Hudson Odoi is the next big thing if we are to go by his preseason and Sarri will look to give him time on the pitch to develop the youngster.