Chelsea line-ups for Leeds United as Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro disagreement reached

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior has some tough decisions to make regarding his line-up for the Blues’ Premier League clash with Leeds United on Tuesday evening

Just 68 days ago, Chelsea were well beaten at Elland Road. It was one of the lowest points of the Blues’ campaign to date. On Tuesday evening, under a new head coach, Chelsea have the chance to get revenge on Leeds United.

Liam Rosenior, who has won seven of his first nine matches in charge of the west Londoners, will be hoping to continue his fine start to life at Stamford Bridge. Just 72 hours after Chelsea recorded a 3-1 victory at Molineux, with Cole Palmer’s hat-trick sinking Wolves, they are in action again.

Given the short turnaround, Rosenior is expected to make numerous changes to his XI. With that being said, our writers Bobby Vincent and Matt Maltby share their verdicts on what the head coach should do in regards to his line-up selection:

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Bobby Vincent

With the quick turnaround between the trip to Wolves and the home match with Leeds, Rosenior could well be tempted to make a few alterations to his side. Wesley Fofana will surely be rested after completing back-to-back matches against Arsenal and Wolves. Josh Acheampong would be my pick to go alongside Trevoh Chalobah.

Rosenior hinted that Reece James will return to the squad for this one, though it is uncertain whether the Chelsea captain will start. Even if he only uses him for 45-60 minutes, Rosenior should look to bring James back into the side, with Marc Cucurella on the other side.

Rosenior might go with the same midfield of Moises Caicedo and Andrey Santos, with Enzo Fernandez in the No.10 role. Saturday’s hat-trick hero Palmer should be rested. Chelsea need to look after the 23-year-old and they should have more than enough firepower to beat Leeds at home, even without Palmer.

Estevao Willian didn’t get on at Molineux, so surely he comes in on the right-hand side. Pedro Neto could be an option from the bench, with Alejandro Garnacho on the left wing. Joao Pedro as the No.9 – there might be a temptation to rest the Brazil international but he’s too good to leave out of the side at the moment.

Bobby’s XI: Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Acheampong, Cucurella; Caicedo, Santos; Estevao, Fernandez, Garnacho; Joao Pedro

Matt Maltby

The big selection dilemma for Rosenior is whether to rest Palmer, with Chelsea carefully managing his return from injury. But following his hat-trick heroics in the win over Wolves, the Blues star needs to be given as many opportunities as possible to prove his worth to Thomas Tuchel.Palmer isn’t guaranteed a spot in England’s squad for the World Cup, and he knows he needs to rack up more goals and assists if he’s to persuade Tuchel to give him a shot. Leeds represents a good opportunity to add to his tally, while Liam Delap should be given a start in the No.9 role despite Joao Pedro winning two penalties in the win over Wolves.Alejandro Garnacho, who like Delap is short of confidence at the moment, has the ability to test Leeds’ defence too. Otherwise, Rosenior doesn’t really need to shuffle the pack too much.Chelsea are locked in a tense battle for a top-four finish in the Premier League and there’s no real need to change too much right now.Matt’s XI: Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Santos, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Garnacho; Delap