Predicted XI: Rosenior to break club guidelines and start two stars for second time in four days | OneFootball

Chelsea face Napoli tonight in the Champions League, a massive game which will decide whether he have to add two draining play off games to our calendar next month.

It’s Liam Rosenior’s biggest and most important game yet – so what team will he pick?

Rosenior’s predicted team for massive Napoli clash

Cole Palmer and Estevao in Champions League training session. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

The Chelsea manager will want to pick his strongest possible team, so what do the various factors at play mean he’ll go for?

In goal it’s Robert Sanchez, that’s easy.

Reece James played 81 minutes on Sunday against Crystal Palace, but given how important this game, is, we don’t see how he can be left out, despite the reluctance of the club to start him twice in 7 days.

Centrally, Wesley Fofana didn’t start against Palace so that he could be fit for this game. Trevoh Chalobah got last week’s European game against Pafos off so that he could play with Fofana as our best pair tonight.

Marc Cucurella is a shoo in on the left.

Now things get interesting. We could well see James playing in midfield, with Malo Gusto at right back. But given how well Andrey Santos did on Sunday, we can only assume he’s the man to partner Moises Caicedo in the middle.

Cole Palmer is apparently fit to start this game, but we think it’s too much of an intense game to throw him into from the first minute. Enzo Fernandez will start in the ten, with Palmer coming off the bench.

The front 3 is so, so hard to predict. Liam Delap is fresh after a weekend rest, so should get the nod. But Joao Pedro did well at the weekend and could just as easily get the nod. Out wide, Estevao was also great, but is another player the club don’t like to start too often.

We reckon Rosenior risks the Brazilian, with Alejandro Garnacho starting on the left after Pedro Neto disappointed again on Sunday.

In other news…

Malo Gusto is one of the players who could have a crucial role tonight, and he spoke before the game about what he thought his team had learned in their Champions League experiences this season.

A win tonight will likely get Chelsea through to last 16, thanks in part to the situation with the two teams above them in the Champions League table.