Chelsea travel to the Amex for their clash against Brighton in the 4th Round of the FA Cup.
The first of two games in which these sides will face each other this week. Will either manager pull their punches in the cup to save players for the League, or go all out this Saturday?
Brighton come into this game off two consecutive losses, including a 7-0 drumming by Nottingham Forest in their last outing. The Seagulls cannot be underestimated, however, as they went on a seven-game unbeaten run before their recent, dip in form and took points off Manchester Utd and Arsenal.
In his press conference, Fabian Hurzeler seemed to be taking the FA Cup seriously, stating the competition as “a chance to win a title.” Alongside wanting to bounce back from his humiliating result last weekend, Hurzeler will have the motivation to play a strong side against the Blues on Saturday night.
No confirmed players from Brighton to return from injury for the match, with Carlos Baleba the most likely player on the injury list available for selection.
Enzo Maresca confirmed that Marc Guiu’s early withdrawal from Monday’s victory against West Ham injured the Spanish forward “Marc is unfortunately a bad injury”
He continued to state that the injury may leave Guiu out of the team for an extended period “We are still waiting to know the extent but it doesn’t look like a short injury, it looks long. Probably weeks.”
Nicolas Jackson’s fitness was also a topic of discussion, with the Italian coach unsure whether Jackson would be fit enough to feature “Nico is better and he could be [fit for the game]. But it could also be a risk so we will see.”
Which leaves an opportunity for Christopher Nkunku to start up front. The Frenchman had several links away from the club over the winter window after a lack of game time in the League, used primarily as a substitute in the dying embers of the game. Unfortunately, Nkunku’s playstyle strays away from the pressing and attacking play that Maresca asks of his centre forwards. Hopefully, Nkunku will use this opportunity to prove that he is good enough to get consistent minutes in Maresca’s system.
Romeo Lavia, Benoit Badiashille and Wesley Fofana are all still far from their returns to the first team, with Lavia the closest in completing his recovery. The Chelsea boss stated “Romeo is still in the process of coming back. But it’s still a long way to go.”
There will likely be a few other rotations in team personnel. Malo Gusto should slot in for Reece James to provide some rest for the Englishman after his good form since returning from injury. Trevoh Chalobah may start over former Brighton loanee Levi Colwill as Colwill also recently recovered from an injury.
Filip Jorgensen should retain his spot after a solid showing against West Ham. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall may receive a rare starting opportunity, coming in for Enzo Fernandez, it would be nice to give rest to Moises Caicedo but the Ecuadorian is too important to this Chelsea team.
Pedro Neto deserved to start after his major impact off the bench on Monday, as he scored the equaliser and injected some much-needed intensity into the game. Cole Palmer should slot into the middle of the front four, with this being too difficult of a game to put a player with Palmer’s quality on the bench. Despite his poor form recently, Noni Madueke will take up the right flank.
First of two trips down to the Amex this week for the Blues, hopefully, Maresca can use these games to build confidence and build on the hard-fought result earned last Monday against West Ham.
CHE Predicted XI: F. Jorgensen, M. Gusto, T. Adarabioyo (C), T. Chalobah, M. Cucurella, M. Caicedo, K. Dewsbury-Hall, P. Neto, C. Palmer, N. Madueke, C. Nkunku
BHA Predicted XI: B. Verbruggen, J. Veltman, J.P. Van Hecke, L. Dunk (C), P. Estupinan, C. Baleba, Y. Ayari, S. Adingra, G. Rutter, K. Mitoma, J. Pedro
Opmerkingen