Likely Changes Mourinho Will Make For Liverpool Clash

Chelsea return to action in the Premier league after a dissapointing 1-1 draw with NK Maribor in the match day four of the Uefa champions league away in Slovenia midweek.

Chelsea will face last season’s league runner up Liverpool at Anfield in the lunch hour kick-off fixture of match day 11 of the Epl. Liverpool rested most of their key players in the 1-0 defeat they suffered to European champions Real Madrid.

With the game coming barely 48hours after Chelsea returned from Slovenia, it will be expected that most of the players who took part in the game especially those who played the full duration might not have had enough time to recover for the Anfield clash.

Below are the likely changes we think Mourinho will make from the team that played Maribor in the champions league on Wednesday.

Courtios For Cech

Cech was in goal for Chelsea in the champions league match for the second time in a row and it seems Mourinho have devised a way of sharing the goal keeping responsibilities among the two world class goalkeepers.

Courtios is therefore expected to return to the line-up since he has been the man manning the post for Chelsea in all of their league games this season. Both players will be happy to share the responsibility as it will be hard to discard any of them.

While Cech takes care of the cup games, Thibaut Courtios will be tasked with keeping Epl strikers at bay so, expect to see Courtios back in goal for this game.

Cahill For Zouma

Zouma has been given game time in recent champions league games to learn under the tuteledge of the very best- John Terry and the French youngster has shown he is one that is capable of taking over the position of the long term captain and club legend when he eventually quit the game or the club.

Cahill will however make his return to the line-up as his partnership with John Terry has been hailed as one of the best in the league. Mourinho will need his two best and experienced central defenders to stop the Liverpool’s attack who haven’t been  at their best this season but will likely up their game in an attempt to shock Chelsea.

Azpilicueta For Luiz

Ceasar Azpilicueta will return to action for the first time in the league since his three match ban after his sending off against Crystal Palace. Mourinho prefer to use the right full back on the left side of defence since his return to Chelsea and the Spaniard has not disappointed with his performance.

Filippe Luis joined Chelsea last summer from Atletico Madrid and has been used mainly in the champions league as it seems the player is finding it difficult with the pace of the league. Azpilicueta looks more defensively solid than the Brazilian as his work rate and shifts give Mourinho’s backline a balance even as the Portuguese likes attacking from the right full back with Ivanovic bombing forward at will to join the attack.

Oscar For Schurrle

Andre Schurrle was given another chance to prove himself against Maribor but the German world cup winner struggled to cope with the rhythm of the game. It was no surprise to see the special one pull him out for Oscar at half time. Oscar’s introduction brought a lot of life back into Chelsea’s attack and the Brazilian was a problem too much to curtail by the Maribor side.

Oscar has been in scintillating form this season. He scored a wonder of a goal against QPR in the league last weekend so, will be an easy choice for Mourinho to reinstate him back into the starting line-up against Liverpool.

Costa For Drogba

Diego Costa will look to continue his rich vein of scoring form in the league after recovering from his persistent hamstring injury. The Brazilian born Spanish striker made his first start for the club since the October international break in the game against QPR last weekend.

He started from the bench against Maribor and after coming through unscathed, he will be set to lead the attack in place of Didier Drogba who played all 90 minutes against Maribor midweek.

Costa has scored 10 goals in 8 league starts for Chelsea and will fancy his chances of increasing his tally against Liverpool.

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