Ross Barkley has been rewarded for his international form with a start over N’Golo Kante in midfield for Chelsea as they face Cardiff City.
Maurizio Sarri has chosen to hand Marcos Alonso a start over Emerson Palmieri on the left side of the back four. While the Spaniard has not really been up to the mark, he is more experienced and provides more attacking impetus compared to Emerson.
The rest of the back four is pretty much the same, with Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger lining up alongside Alonso. Kepa Arrizabalaga is in goal for Chelsea.
This is our team to play Cardiff this afternoon! ?#CARCHE pic.twitter.com/9s6yIgY8w7
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 31, 2019
Sarri has also rewarded Ross Barkley for his form for England during the international break with a start over N’Golo Kante in midfield in what is a rather shocking move. Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho retain their respective places and the manager will hope for better performances from the star duo.
In attack, Callum Hudson-Odoi will have to be satisfied with a spot on the bench, despite receiving his senior debut for England and recording an assist on his first start for the Three Lions. The winger is admittedly better on the left, which is generally filled by club superstar Eden Hazard. But, the manager has chosen to bench the Belgian, with Pedro starting.
Willian will be on the other side of the attack, with Gonzalo Higuain searching for some consistency as he leads the Chelsea attack against Cardiff.