{"id":3877,"date":"2026-05-04T20:07:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T20:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=3877"},"modified":"2026-05-04T20:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T20:07:26","slug":"4-4-1-1-chelsea-predicted-xi-against-nottingham-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=3877","title":{"rendered":"4-4-1-1 Chelsea predicted XI against Nottingham Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"Chelsea\"<\/div>\n

Chelsea host Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge<\/h2>\n

Chelsea face a massive test of character when they welcome Nottingham Forest to Stamford Bridge on 4 May 2026. This fixture feels particularly tense for the Blues, who are currently spiralling after five straight\u00a0Premier League\u00a0losses without scoring, a run that has put the club under intense pressure.<\/p>\n

Chelsea are currently in eighth place on 48 points, though the hope of securing European football remains a major factor heading into this game.<\/p>\n

Chelsea\u2019s predicted starting XI against Forest<\/h3>\n

Robert S\u00e1nchez is expected to start in goal, keeping his spot as the preferred option while Filip J\u00f6rgensen remains out. Malo Gusto should take the right-back position to provide some much-needed pace and width. In the centre, Wesley Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah are the likely defensive duo, with Jorrel Hato filling in at left-back as Levi Colwill continues his spell on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

The midfield and forward selection<\/h3>\n

In midfield, Rom\u00e9o Lavia and Mois\u00e9s Caicedo will likely sit at the base of the formation to provide defensive cover and keep the ball moving. Pedro Neto is set to start on the right, where he will be expected to press high and stretch the Forest defence, while Marc Cucurella handles the left side. Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez will probably play in a more advanced role just behind the striker, using his vision to try to unlock what will likely be a very crowded defensive line.<\/p>\n

Up front, the goal-scoring burden falls on Liam Delap, who has been in decent form lately. Chelsea\u2019s options are thin, however; Mykhaylo Mudryk is out on suspension, and the injury list still includes Reece James, Est\u00eav\u00e3o, and Jamie Gittens.<\/p>\n

Expert claims that Spanish gaffer would prefer managing Arsenal over Chelsea<\/p>\n

What do Chelsea need against a confident Forest?<\/h3>\n

Forest arrive in London full of confidence, having gone unbeaten in their last six matches. That run includes impressive draws against Manchester City and Aston Villa, plus a clinical 5-0 thrashing of Sunderland. Meanwhile, Chelsea haven\u2019t kept a clean sheet in 12 straight league games. The pressure is on the home side to find some spark in attack and finally give the Stamford Bridge crowd a reason to cheer.<\/p>\n

The mysterious case of Mudryk \u2013 What exactly is going on with the Chelsea star?<\/p>\n

Chelsea (4-4-1-1): Robert S\u00e1nchez \u2013 Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Jorrel Hato \u2013 Pedro Neto, Rom\u00e9o Lavia, Mois\u00e9s Caicedo, Marc Cucurella \u2013 Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez \u2013 Liam Delap.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chelsea host Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge Chelsea face a massive test of character when…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}