Craig Burley predicts that Kalidou Koulibaly will return to Chelsea’s starting line-up tonight against Borussia Dortmund.
The Blues are back in Champions League action on Wednesday evening with a trip to Germany to play an in-form side.
The Bundesliga giants have won their last seven consecutive games across all competitions, so will be confident of gaining a lead in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Chelsea.
They will lock horns again on 7 March for the second leg.
All eyes on Graham Potter
The Chelsea fanbase are very intrigued to see what kind of starting XI the Chelsea head coach selects out in Dortmund.
Benoit Badiashile’s exclusion from the Champions League squad means there will be at least one disruption in defence.
In fact, The Guardian reports that Potter could change his system tonight and revert to a back three.
Chelsea have looked fairly settled in recent weeks with a back four, which has seen them tighten up defensively and concede less goals.
However, there’s going to be a fresh combination this evening.
Kalidou Koulibaly inclusion
ESPN pundit Craig Burley believes that Koulibaly will benefit tonight and be picked for a recall to the starting team.
“Badiashile is not available, so I would imagine Koulibaly comes back in. Lots of experience, but it’s not the same Koulibaly that was playing for Napoli, that’s for sure,” Burley told ESPN.
Koulibaly, 31, has been out of the side recently amid some poor form.
Despite the centre-half struggling during his debut season at the Bridge, he’s an individual with a lot of Champions League know-how and pedigree from his time at Napoli.
If selected, let’s hope Chelsea supporters get to see the version of Koulibaly that made everyone so excited when he joined last summer.
Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.