After drawing 1-1 with Liverpool last weekend, Chelsea will be desperate for all three points when they travel to the London Stadium on Sunday to take on West Ham United.
Mauricio Pochettino played it a bit safe against Jurgen Klopp’s side by including three central defenders in his starting XI.
Coming up against opposition who are not as strong, though, the Argentine now has the opportunity to field a more attacking line-up, one that should feature Mykhailo Mudryk, who is looking to make his first start of the season.
With his pace and dribbling, the Ukrainian may just be what Chelsea need when they face a side who are likely to be quite defensive and resilient, which is what you would expect from a David Moyes team.
“He is electric,” Lewis Hall said when talking about Mudryk earlier this month.
On the day, Chelsea are going to have to take any counter-attacking opportunities they get. There probably will not be too many given how West Ham are likely to set up, so you want individuals who will make them count.
It is not just that, though. Generally, most Chelsea fans will surely feel more confident of a win if they have more attacking players on the pitch who can help break the Hammers down.
Mudryk’s Chelsea career has not really taken off yet, but there were positive signs in pre-season, with the Ukraine international combining well with Nicolas Jackson to score an excellent goal against Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Blues have invested a lot of money in Mudryk, with BBC Sport claiming that they could end up paying £89m in total for him.
With that in mind, sooner or later, Pochettino is going to have to give him a serious run in the team. If that does not happen, then questions are going to be asked about Chelsea’s purchase of the former Shakhtar Donetsk star.
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