Who’d be in your Chelsea XI v FC Nordsjaelland?

Chelsea dropped a two-goal lead in their first Champions League Group E match against Juventus at Stamford Bridge but you’d expect us to pick up all three points when we play FC Nordsjaelland tomorrow night, doesn’t mean should be taking them lightly though.

Daniel Sturridge will miss out as he is still suffering with a hamstring problem and continuing to work on exercise programs, which is a pity as it would have been the perfect opportunity to give him a chance at centre-forward and rest Fernando Torres, who has played a lot of football already.

The team I’d pick for tomorrow:

P. Cech

C. Azpilicueta – G. Cahill – J. Terry (c) – R. Bertrand

O. Romeu – F. Lampard

V. Moses – E. Hazard – M. Marin

F. Torres

I’m expecting the Danish side will go defensive and the best way to unlock a stubborn defence is to stretch the game in the wide areas, which is where the fresh fullback pairing of Cesar Azpilicueta and Ryan Bertrand come in. It’s also a chance to rest David Luiz ahead of the weekend and play Gary Cahill.

John Obi Mikel and Ramires represent our best and most natural midfield pairing but I’d rest them for this trip and play Frank Lampard and Oriol Romeu. Romeu enjoyed a decent game in the cup against Wolverhampton Wanderers and scored his first goal for the club from the penalty spot, it’ll be a good run-out to keep up his match fitness.

No need for either Juan Mata or Oscar to feature in this one, nor is there any need to field Eden Hazard but I reckon he’ll start in his central role behind Torres. We haven’t seen much of Marko Marin and Victor Moses has looked good, hopefully the duo will put the opposition on the back-foot with their pace and trickery.

Ideally I’d leave Torres out for Sturridge but he’s unavailable, so the best we could hope for is another few goals to add to the Spaniard’s tally to help with the confidence. He played a decent game against Arsenal and made a real nuisance of himself as well as taking his goal well, but his decision making in attacking areas still needs a little work as he has a frustrating tendency to pick the wrong pass or play the ball behind a runner when we’re on the break. Can’t fault his work-rate against the Gunners though, so hope he keeps it up.