Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri, in conveying his extreme workaholic tendencies, declared no Christmas holiday for his side, as they trained on both December 24th and December 25th. The Italian will be looking to get his team firing on all cylinders and thus back to their winning ways again.
The Blues stayed undefeated much later into the season than almost everybody had anticipated, but having just lost at home to Leicester City for the first time in a very long while, they are badly in need of a refresh right now. Look for Sarri to make at least a couple, and potentially a few, changes to his starting XI as he leads his Blues into Vicarage Road to take on Watford on Boxing Day.
Given the massive workload they (and every other team too) have this time of year, the Italian will need to keep his side fresh, and thus rotate his squad. That means striker Olivier Giroud could be line for a rare Premier League start here. Merry Christmas everybody!
The Bank Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction vs Watford (4-3-3)
Forwards: Eden Hazard, Olivier Giroud, Pedro
Midfielders: Ross Barkley, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante
Defenders: Marcos Alonso, David Luiz, Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta
Goalkeeper: Kepa Arrizabalaga
Chelsea FC at Watford FYIs
Kick-off: 7:30pm (BST), 2:30 pm (EST) Wednesday December 26, Vicarage Road
Google Result Probability: Chelsea win 55%, Draw 26%, Watford win-19%
Odds via Odds Checker: Chelsea win 10/13, draw 29/10, Watford 17/4
Injury report for both teams: go to this link
Prediction: Watford 1, Chelsea 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.