Chelsea manager Graham Potter has plenty of big decisions to make ahead of Saturday’s clash with Leicester City, but choosing a starting left-sided centre-back role will be particularly tough.
Like Paul Merson, many Chelsea fans would like to see Potter stick with the starting line-up that he used in Tuesday’s win over Borussia Dortmund.
The Blues will not have any midweek fixtures before the international break, so this should not be a problem.
Also, it makes sense to give these eleven players more opportunities to keep the momentum.
If this was the case, then Marc Cucurella, who was named man of the match against Dortmund, should be one of the first names on the team sheet this weekend.
The Spain international clearly deserves to start after his strong performance, but so does Benoit Badiashile.
It is rather unfair if he loses his spot just because he is not available in the other competition.
Bear in mind that, Badiashile has arguably been Chelsea’s best purchase in January.
In the six games he featured in the Premier League, Chelsea conceded just two goals and kept four clean sheets.
In summary, Badiashile seems to be the more reliable, consistent option but Chelsea will eventually have to rely on either Cucurella or Kalidou Koulibaly when it really matters in the Champions League.
According to Opta, Leicester have registered the joint-second fewest crosses and the fewest header attempts in the league.
So, Cucurella’s lack of height compared to Badiashile should not be that big a problem.
It comes down to whether Potter wants to reward Cucurella for his reemergence or Badiashile for his consistency.
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