Chelsea failed to beat a tired and burnt-out Manchester City team in the FA Cup semi-final but they have no time to repent because on Tuesday night they head across London to take on league leaders Arsenal.
Chelsea played really well in the semi-final but their failure to convert changes cost them a place in the FA Cup final. Coming to the Premier League, the Blues are currently sitting ninth on the league table and the only thing left for them to play for is pride.
The Blues had been slowly picking up pace thanks to some good results in the league but the cup exit at the weekend has once again brought about doom and gloom at Stamford Bridge.
There’s nothing much left for Chelsea to do in the league but they will at least be hoping to derail Arsenal’s title push by picking up a win at the Emirates Stadium. Having said that, the Blues are winless against Arsenal in their previous five meetings.
Chelsea’s team news and injuries:
Cole Palmer has been the best Chelsea player this season but the playmaker has been down with illness since the Man City game and his manager has confirmed that he is a major doubt for the trip to North London.
‘We need to assess tomorrow (Tuesday) morning but today I don’t believe he can be involved,’ Poch at his pre-match press conference.
‘We need to assess tomorrow and then decide. Even if he is feeling better tomorrow, maybe he is not in a condition to play. We hope he recovers from this situation and can be involved again as soon as possible.
‘With or without Cole we always believe we can win. The most important thing is the team and the collective. He is an important part of the team and is doing fantastic for us, but we are Chelsea and we have plenty of players that can perform and do the job.’
If Cole Palmer cannot be fit in time then it will be a major blow for Chelsea because it’s the 21-year-old who has been shouldering all the goalscoring burden. If Palmer is unavailable then Gallagher will be the one who plays in the No 10 role with Madueke and Raheem Sterling as the two wide players.
Malo Gusto is also a doubt for Chelsea after he picked a ligament injury during the semi-final and if he is not fit then Axel Disasi will have to slot into the right-hand side of defence.
‘I am not a doctor but I try to translate what is going on,’ the manager has said. ‘Malo suffered a problem with a ligament in his knee, we hope it’s not a big issue.’
Raheem Sterling and Disasi’s(possible) addition to the starting line up should be the only changes that Pochettino is going to make from the MCFC game at the weekend.
Chelsea predicted line up vs Arsenal:
GOALKEEPER: Petrovic
DEFENDERS: Axel Disasi, Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Cucurella
MIDFIELDERS: Enzo Fernandez, Caicedo;
ATTACK: Madueke, Sterling, Gallagher; Nicolas Jackson.
