Chelsea coach Calum McFarlane faces his second spell in charge of the first team this season after the 40-year-old was announced as the club’s interim head coach following the sacking of Liam Rosenior.
McFarlane has previously been a first team coach but he has been promoted to the top job until the end of the season after Rosenior’s dismissal on Wednesday evening.
He will take charge of the Blues for the second time after briefly leading the club before Rosenior arrived, with his previous results including a 1-1 draw away to Manchester City and a 2-1 loss to Fulham.
While there are four more matches left of the Premier League season as McFarlane looks to secure some form of European football at Stamford Bridge, his first test is an FA Cup semi-final against Leeds United at Wembley this weekend.
The match marks a chance to keep Chelsea’s hunt for silverware this season alive, with the winner facing either Manchester City or Southampton in the final on 16 May.
While the hopes of Champions League football returning to Stamford Bridge hang by a thread after the loss to Brighton – with the Blues seven points behind fifth-placed Liverpool, who have a game in hand – it is likely that McFarlane will name as strong a starting XI as possible against Leeds.
However, Chelsea are dealing with numerous injury problems, with Estevao now ruled out for the rest of the season and Reece James, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro among the other notable absentees of late.
Nevertheless, with some evidence from his previous two games in charge, we can get an idea of how McFarlane likes to line up, and what sort of starting XI he might opt for at Wembley on Sunday.
The interim boss lined up with a 4-2-3-1 formation in both of his previous games in charge, and opted for different goalkeepers in both, with Robert Sanchez used in the draw with City and Filip Jorgensen playing against the Cottagers.
With Jorgensen out, Sanchez will start in goal, while Trevoh Chalobah and Malo Gusto will likely start in defence as the pair started both previous games under McFarlane.
Marc Cucurella will likely play at left-back, while Wesley Fofana feels like the best option as a partner for Chalobah at centre-back despite being out injured when McFarlane took over before.
Injuries meant McFarlane needed to use a makeshift midfield against City, but the use of Moises Caicedo and Andrey Santos against Fulham gives a clue as to his preferred midfield pairing.
In attack, Palmer was used on the right against Fulham while Estevao played against City, though with the Brazilian injured it could be that Palmer is used wide with Enzo Fernandez down the middle.
Finally, Pedro Neto played both games on the left wing, and while Liam Delap was used and scored against Fulham, McFarlane will surely prefer Joao Pedro if the Brazilian has recovered in time.
Predicted Chelsea XI against Leeds: Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Fofana, Cucurella; Santos, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Neto; Pedro.
