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Emiliano Martinez - Mike Penders: Who Should Start In Goal For Chelsea vs Sunderland?
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- Emiliano Martinez - Mike Penders: Who Should Start In Goal For Chelsea vs Sunderland?
(IMAGO / Pro Sports Images)
Emiliano Martinez could start for Chelsea in Sunday's Premier League clash with Sunderland after positive developments in injury recovery, but should he start ahead of Mike Penders?
Martinez was very close to recording his first clean sheet for Chelsea before he was forced off on a stretcher with an injury in the 66th minute due to a collision in the game against Everton last month.
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Chelsea still ended up winning the game without conceding, a convincing 2-0 victory, with Penders finishing Martinez's job in goal, but neither goalkeeper officially got the clean sheet record to their name.
Penders went on to start in goal for Chelsea in the following three games while Martinez was in recovery after successful jaw surgery.
The young goalkeeper's full Premier League debut against Tottenham Hotspur went horribly as he made a very costly error that led to the visitors' opener at Stamford Bridge. However, his performance improved significantly in the last two games against Liverpool and Manchester United . He even recorded his first official Premier League clean sheet in the 2-0 win over Man United last weekend.
Ahead of Sunday's trip to Sunderland , Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso would have to make a big goalkeeper decision.
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Penders' momentum or Martinez's proven experience?
Some might argue that sticking with Penders would be the safer bet. He proved reliable in the last two games and even made important saves that helped Chelsea get their second league clean sheet of the season last week.
The club are also clearly building him to be their long-term first-choice goalkeeper in the future, so any chance to aid his development is a bonus. Bear in mind, after the Carabao Cup fourth-round exit, Chelsea will not have cup games to allocate to the Belgium international until the FA Cup third-round proper kicks off in January.
Additionally, this will be Chelsea's final game before entering the two-week international break period, so why make a risky change now?
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Martinez has trained with the team in the last few days and has already had a custom-fitted mask to help protect his jaw. However, it is unclear whether the injury would affect his ability to deal with high balls, especially in traffic.
Sunderland average the fifth-most long balls per game (60) and the fifth-most crosses per game (19) in the Premier League this season. So, these aerial threats will almost certainly be there this weekend.
Now, the arguments for why Martinez should start.
There is a reason why the 34-year-old is ahead of Penders in the pecking order in the first place. He has the experience and the ability to command his defence that Penders still lacks.
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The latter is still prone to mistakes, which is normal for a young goalkeeper, but if Chelsea are to meet their objective of qualifying for the Champions League, they have to avoid slipping in the league.
It has been established that Martinez is the number one at Chelsea for now, so if he is available, he should start between the sticks.
In fairness, regardless of who starts for Chelsea, they should still be massive favourites heading into this game. Martinez and Penders are not exactly miles apart in shot-stopping ability, so the former's fitness will likely play a bigger part in Alonso's decision-making than any footballing reasons.
