It was certainly a very eventful international break for Chelsea and their roster of players, some of whom suffered fitness issues. Timo Werner was trending on social media yesterday for all the wrong reasons, as he missed an easy sitter and that cost Germany severely in their shock World Cup qualifier loss to North Macedonia.
Speaking of German summer transfer window acquisitions who have struggled, Kai Havertz opened up on the rough first season that he’s having in west London. But he performed very well with Germany this international period, so maybe he’s turning the corner?
West Brom at Chelsea FYIs
Kickoff: Sat Apr 3, Stamford Bridge, 12:30
Chelsea Team News: go here
PL Position, Form Guide: Chelsea- 4th, 51 pts DWWDD West Brom- LDLWD
TV/Stream: BT Sport, BT Sport’s App and homepage
In keeping with the “maybe he’s turning the corner” theme, Christian Pulisic was man of the match in Chelsea’s last fixture before the break, and he was MOTM for the USA in their friendly win over Northern Ireland in Belfast too this past week. He’s vowed to stay at Stamford Bridge and fight to regain his place in the team.
The 22-year-old American has endured a season filled with injuries, a drop in form and a switch to a system that doesn’t quite suit him as well as the previous formation.
Here’s how we see Thomas Tuchel shaping up his team, in his trademark 3-4-2-1 formation.
Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction vs West Bromwich Albion
Mendy; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Chilwell; Ziyech, Havertz; Werner
Prediction: Chelsea 1, West Brom 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.