Mauricio Pochettino has apparent Chelsea decision facing Manchester City, with four players ruled out

For the first time this year, Mauricio Pochettino’s puzzle pieces have been ripped apart and dispersed into the air. In actuality, they were only actually in place for 85 minutes at Villa Park last week.

The manager once again has a dilemma to tackle, and this time there aren’t too many solutions to ease the matter. With the absence of Thiago Silva confirmed by the boss before heading to Manchester to face City, champions of five of the past six Premier League seasons, Pochettino will need a tiny miracle to keep things fully shut off.

Pep Guardiola’s team won four out of four encounters with Chelsea last season by a total score of 8-0. The team looks radically different this time around, but memories of the 4-4 draw in November will do well to reach into the away end of the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Chelsea have strung together back-to-back away wins, something that goes utterly against a run of six losses in seven before that, but there are still issues to be raised. In the league, there have been only two clean sheets since October. There have only been two away from home all season.

Silva, even at 39, has patrolled a changing variety of players and settings around him. However, it was the triumph last week against Aston Villa that highlighted to a bigger issue that hadn’t completely been addressed. Although Silva delivers lots on the field, there is still a wider ignorance about his drawbacks as well.

The Brazilian is unable to play at the same intensity as his younger teammates throughout matches, and although he is often good enough to read play early and cut out danger, he was targeted against Wolves by Pedro Neto and was part of a team that had conceded four just days earlier against Liverpool.

Even though Silva’s very inclusion often means Chelsea play a lower defensive line out of position—or else get caught out playing a high one—and are less aggressive in their movement while on the ball, there have been too many occasions where he has been isolated in. For Pochettino, it is like wanting a cake and eating it.

Silva offers enough to be indispensable but stays fallible at the same time. When there is little other choice, as has been the case for much of the season, it is understandable why his place is so solid. But for City on Saturday, there is surely an argument to be made that he doesn’t belong in the finest Chelsea defence right now anyhow. Benoit Badiashile and Axel Disasi’s display away to Villa was exactly what many who watched them at Monaco might have anticipated to see as they worked well in a partnership. In a team of new relationships, the Disasi-Badiashile axis has already begun 65 matches, keeping 20 clean sheets.

That body of work is significantly larger than any of the other pairings across the field at this stage, and it looks that way too. The French-speaking two, with a French right-back in Malo Gusto alongside them, are considerably more naturally attached to each other’s game than anyone is with Silva. Disasi is hardly the most mobile player yet he is able to cover territory quicker than Silva simply owing to his age. Badiahsile, who plays on the left of the two as a natural fit, has surely got speed when needed too.

For over an hour, 10 days ago, they looked to be the future of Chelsea. It is no surprise, either. Of their 11 appearances together in west London, only three have started with natural full-backs on either side. In the league, that number is down to one, and on that day Reece James was forced out after half an hour with injury.

When played alongside real full-backs, there was near absolute control over Aston Villa’s threatening front line. It is circumstantial, but when Badiashile was taken out with an injury, Chelsea conceded shortly afterwards. That they have been so far unable to play many matches together in what may be dubbed a conventional back four, is a great disappointment.

They won’t be able to on Saturday either, as football.london understands Badiashile is going to miss about four weeks with his latest fitness issue. It will keep him out of the Carabao Cup final as well, adding to Pochettino’s litany of concerns. Add in the current absence of James, Wesley Fofana, and Marc Cucurella, who is returning to individual training ahead of a possible return in the coming months. London understands, and there is once again an entire defensive currently injured. James, Silva, Fofana, and Cucurella played enough games together last year to constitute a solid Premier League backline.

Although Ben Chilwell is a greater player than Cucurella, Gusto is a decent enough deputy to James, and right now there’s an argument to argue Disasi with Badiashile is just as appropriate for the present side as Silva and Fofana, it has cut off Pochettino’s depth. Trevoh Chalobah comes returned, but only just ready for the bench; meanwhile, Ian Maatsen was promptly chosen as an offensive option rather than a left-back. That Disasi and Badiashile have played more games together with one as a full-back than they have as a true combination is confirmation of the square pegs and round holes Pochettino has been utilizing.

On Saturday, there is a natural substitute for Silva, and Gusto has been passed fit, which reduces the need to change much more outside of that. Colwill was the man to come on in the second half at Selhurst Park, and although the sample size is low, Chelsea were slightly freed up. The waves of assault came quicker, Palace were walled in, and ultimately the two goals arrived. Silva walking off is not the only reason this happened, and Gusto himself wasn’t on the field as Conor Gallagher shot in to secure three points, but the long-term issues regarding how the team progressed still linger.

Pochettino won’t have too many selections to pick from when he goes north for Saturday’s game. In an ideal scenario, he has James on the right with pacey centre-backs in Fofana and Badiashile or Colwill, supported by Chilwell on the left. The reality is that in the space of a week, what looked to be Chelsea’s greatest defensive line-up has already been overhauled.

Colwill in for Badiashile is a straightforward call to make, but after the promise shown by Disasi and his old comrade, it is still somewhat of a blow. Chelsea now appears poised to push Gusto to the limit physically against the toughest opponent playing. He will do that alongside Disasi and Colwill with Chilwell, still gaining his match sharpness, overlapping on the other side.