CHELSEA’S greatest EVER starting XI has been revealed by artificial intelligence.
The Blues endured their worst-ever Premier League season following Todd Boehly’s takeover, but have a cabinet full of trophies to look back on and remind them of better times.
Numerous club legends have emerged from those victories, and now Perplexity AI has named the best of the bunch.
In goal is Petr Cech, arguably the best goalkeeper the Premier League has ever seen.
The 41-year-old made 494 appearances for Chelsea, helping to win four Premier League titles, five FA Cups and the Champions League.
The first star in the defence in front of him is Serbian bruiser Branislav Ivanovic.
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The three-time Premier League winner made 377 appearances for the club, being famed for his no-nonsense approach to defending.
At the core of the defence, the first is a star who exemplified the art of defending in former captain John Terry.
After emerging through the Blues youth team, the Englishman enjoyed a trophy-laden 17-year career at Stamford Bridge.
His successes included five Premier League titles, five FA Cups and lifting the Champions and Europa League across 715 appearances.
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Partnering him is French World Cup winner Marcel Desailly.
The former Milan and Marseille star played at Chelsea for six years, appearing in 221 games and winning four trophies.
Completing the defence is Ashley Cole, who joined from Arsenal in 2006 and went on to make 337 appearances over his eight years at Stamford Bridge.
In midfield, Claude Makelele partners Frank Lampard for a rekindling of the 2005 team which conceded just 15 goals to see Chelsea lift their first Prem title.
Lampard was one of the poster boys of the Roman Abramovich era as a player, but did not have a great time as a manager in either of his spells.
Luckily his legacy as a player remains intact, following 648 appearances for the club and netting a club-record 211 goals, all the while winning 13 trophies.
Meanwhile, Makelele was with Chelsea for five years, helping the club win back-to-back league titles in 2005 and 2006.
On the wings for this team are Gianfranco Zola and Eden Hazard.
Between them, the pair played 662 games and netting 188 goals in that time.
Zola won the club’s Player of the Year award in 1999 and 2003, with Hazard doubling this haul with his four wins in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Up front, Didier Drogba is paired with Peter Osgood – the only name from before the Premier League era to make it.
The former was a final specialist, putting in starring performances to help the club win its first Champions League and a number of FA Cups.
His 164 goals put him fourth in the club’s all-time scorer rankings.
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Osgood was a star who came far before his listed team-mates as he played for the Blues throughout the 1960s.
And his tally of 150 strikes put him joint fifth in the standings.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
