In his press conference this morning, Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte more or less confirmed starts for the youth trio of Ake, Chalobah, and Loftus-Cheek. Ola Aina may also get a look-in from the start though that might depend on where exactly the whole Branislav Ivanović situation lies.
"[Ake] can play as a central defender or a wing-back.
Tomorrow is a good opportunity for him to show me he's into my idea of football and to show his improvement."
"Ruben and Chalobah, for sure, will continue to stay with us. For Ola, I think it could be a possibility to go on loan. But there are four days to see the development of this situation."
Conte promised to use his squad in a manner similar to the previous round, which, especially with the Liverpool game coming up just three days after this game, will mean plenty of rotation once again. Against Peterborough, all but two players rotated out and only Gary Cahill played in his usual spot. Cahill is likely to get a well deserved rest in this one, having started every single game so far this season.
Perhaps the only troublesome spot is left back, where we do not have a clear backup to rotate in. Pedro played there in the third round, but he'll be needed against Liverpool. Same goes for Alonso.
So we either take the hit with one of those guys (Pedro, probably), or we try a non-ideal solution with Ake or Aina or perhaps even Kenedy. (Conte remained non-committal on the futures of Kenedy and Musonda.)
3-4-3/3-5-2 (depending on Loftus-Cheek's role):
Begović | Aké, Terry, Zouma | Pedro, Loftus-Cheek, Fàbregas, Chalobah, Ivanović | Batshuayi, Willian
In the community's preferred lineup, Kenedy and Aina get the nod at wingback, otherwise we're all mostly on the same page.
3-4-3/3-5-2 (depending on Loftus-Cheek's role):
Begović (82%) | Aké (96%), Terry (75%), Zouma (97%) | Kenedy (48%), Loftus-Cheek (82%), Fàbregas (87%), Chalobah (93%), Aina (75%) | Batshuayi (96%), Willian (65%)
Asmir Begovic is to start in goal when Premier League leaders Chelsea play Brentford in Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round tie, despite the possibility of a move to Bournemouth before the end of the month.
Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte is expected to rotate his options, so young players Michy Batshuayi, Nathan Ake and Nathaniel Chalobah are likely to feature alongside the likes of Cesc Fabregas.
Chelsea club captain John Terry may play, having been sent off in the third-round win over Peterborough, while Branislav Ivanovic could be in contention as doubts continue over his future.
Provisional squad: Courtois, Begovic, Ivanovic, Alonso, Fabregas, Zouma, Kante, Hazard, Loftus-Cheek, Moses, Pedro, Costa, Matic, Willian, Batshuayi, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Chalobah, Luiz, Eduardo, Aina, Ake.
No comments:
Write comments