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Premier League holders Chelsea begin their title defence with a home game against Burnley on Saturday. The Blues did not have a good pre-season with defeats against Bayern Munich and Inter Milan while they also suffered a penalty shootout loss to Arsenal in the Community Shield. Despite this, Antonio Conte will be fairly positive for the curtain raiser, although the club's midfield requires some strengthening before the transfer deadline.
Formation: 3-4-3
Lineup:
Thibaut Courtois is a certainty to take up the number one role as he has done in the past three seasons. The back three is a straight pick with Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Garry Cahill guaranteed starters after their showing last term.
Similarly to the backline, Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso do not have much competition behind them, and they will take up their usual positions at right wing-back and left wing-back respectively.
As said earlier, the Blues find themselves in a bit of a midfield crisis with summer recruit Tiemoue Bakayoko still on the sidelines with a knee injury. As a result, Cesc Fabregas and N'Golo Kante virtually pick themselves at the heart of the midfield.
The front line could remain the same as in the Community Shield. Willian and Pedro will feature in the right and left wing respectively whilst Michy Batshuayi will get the nod for the centre-forward role ahead of Alvaro Morata, who still looks sort of match fitness.
Written by Sri Aswin
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