On Saturday, Eden Hazard came off the bench in the 61? to propel the Blues past London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup semi-finals.
After the match, Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte said that the plan all along was to have Eden Hazard come off the bench. Hazard’s Chelsea teammate Cesc Fabregas said over the weekend that only Messi is better than the 2014-15 PFA Player of the Year “ability wise.” Fabregas then added his view that Eden Hazard could reach Messi’s level if he were only to have more “killer instinct.” (more on that here)
Chelsea’s win over the team closest to them in the Premier League standings, feels like it might be a really big statement, even though it didn’t for points in the table (as it was a different competition). The victory, coupled with N’Golo Kante winning PFA player of the year, and Conte saying that his MVP still has room to grow, makes one feel like the Blues are regaining mometum again.
All the inertia they lost on Easter at Manchester United could be coming back to them. We’ll see Tuesday night if Southampton have something to say about it.
So without further ado, here is The Sport’s Bank Chelsea starting XI prediction:
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois
Defenders: Nathan Ake (CB), Cesar Azpilicueta (CB), David Luiz (CB)
Midfielders: Cesc Fabregas (LM), N’Golo Kante (CM), Nemanja Matic (CM), Victor Moses (RM)
Forwards: Eden Hazard (LW), Diego Costa (ST), Pedro (RW)
As always, feel free to post your own starting XI in the comments section below. Speak your mind on the formations and line-ups that are already presented here for your discussion.
Odds via Odds Checker: Southampton 15/2, draw 4/1, Chelsea 4/9
Prediction: Chelsea 1, Southampton 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times and NBC Chicago.com, contributes to Chicago Tribune.com, Bold, WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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