“Has to change” – Alan Shearer reveals what Rosenior must do if Chelsea want Champions League football

Chelsea head into Sunday’s capital-city showdown at Arsenal knowing that anything less than a result will leave their top-four hopes hanging by a thread, and Premier League record scorer Alan Shearer believes interim boss Liam Rosenior has one non-negotiable issue to solve: a defence that “has to change” if Champions League football is to remain a realistic target.

The Blues, winless against Arsenal since 2021, have already faced the Gunners three times this term – a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge and Carabao Cup semi-final defeats home and away. With back-to-back league slips against Leeds and Burnley fresh in the memory, Chelsea enter the weekend fifth, level on points with Liverpool and three behind fourth-placed Manchester United.

Reece James returns from injury to bolster Rosenior’s options, yet Marc Cucurella and teenage winger Estevao are ruled out, thinning a back line that has shipped preventable goals all season. Shearer, writing in Metro, sees little evidence of improvement.

“I’m still really not convinced by Chelsea at the back,” the former Newcastle striker said. “Defensively, Rosenior keeps picking different personnel and they haven’t been great defensively, which has to change if they’re going to get into the top four.”

Shearer expects Arsenal to replicate the high-tempo, high-press approach that swept aside Tottenham and predicts Mikel Arteta’s side will “overpower them all over the pitch” unless Chelsea find immediate stability.

Club legend John Terry echoed the sentiment, stressing that nicking the first goal could tilt momentum in a fixture where Chelsea have struggled for psychological edge. With Aston Villa looming on Wednesday, the next seven days represent either a springboard or a slide in the race for Europe’s premier competition.

Rosenior’s team-selection conundrum is stark: keep rotating and risk further disorganisation, or settle on a back four and hope cohesion trumps individual errors. For Shearer, the answer is simple – fix the defence, or forget the Champions League.