Cucurella or Chilwell – who should be Chelsea’s first choice?

The
Blues
already
had
one
of
the
best
left-backs
in
the
Premier
League
in
Ben
Chilwell
and
have
signed
Marc
Cucurella
from
Brighton
&
Hove
Albion
this
summer.

Chilwell
made
his
move
to
Chelsea
in
the
summer
of
2020
from
Leicester
City
for
a
fee
of
around
£45
million.
The
Englishman
has
been
absolutely
brilliant
for
the
Blues
but
he
has
endured
a
tough
time
with
injuries.
Since
his
move
to
Stamford
Bridge,
the
England
international
has
missed
as
many
as
43
games
with
injuries.

Cucurella
has
been
brought
in
by
the
West
London
club
this
summer
from
Brighton
in
a
deal
worth
an
initial
£55
million,
potentially
rising
to
£62
million
in
add-ons.
The
Spaniard
has
so
far
started
six
of
the
Blues’ eight
games
across
all
competitions
with
Chilwell
starting
the
other
two.

Cucurella
has
played
556
minutes
of
first
team
football
this
season
and
provided
two
assists
while
Chilwell
already
has
one
goal
and
two
assists
in
just
191
minutes
of
time
on
the
pitch.

Potter
will
be
spoilt
for
choice
while
naming
his
starting
XI
with
two
sensational
left-backs
available
at
his
disposal.

Cucurella
might
hold
an
advantage
over
Chilwell
with
Potter
now
in
charge
at
Stamford
Bridge.
The
new
Chelsea
manager
knows
the
Spaniard
well
from
their
time
together
at
Brighton.

The
Spaniard
has
another
big
advantage
due
to
his
natural
fitness.
He
has
not
missed
a
single
game
with
injury
since
2017
while
Chilwell
has
a
por
history
with
injuries.

However,
a
fit
Chilwell
might
very
well
be
the
best
left-back
in
the
Premier
League.
Cururella
is
also
pretty
gifted
but
is
not
as
effective
as
Chilwell
while
going
forward.

There
is
a
chance
that
Potter
will
find
a
way
to
have
both
Chilwell
and
Cucurella
playing
together
at
the
same
time.
Potter
mostly
used
a
3-4-2-1
formation
during
his
time
at
Brighton,
where
Cucurella
played
in
a
left
centre-back
role.
If
the
new
Blues
boss
opts
to
use
the
same
tactics
at
Stamford
Bridge,
both
Cucurella
and
Chilwell
can
play
at
the
same
time.