Chelsea head to Wembley to take on Manchester City in the semi-final of the FA Cup and Enzo Fernandez along with Axel Disasi has just returned to training ahead of this key encounter.
The duo had not trained since the 2-2 draw at Sheffield United and they ended up missing Chelsea’s emphatic win over Everton. However, in a major boost, both Enzo Fernandez and Disasi have been pictured training with the rest of the squad on Thursday morning.
Enzo is the marquee signing for the Blues and so far, the Argentine has done pretty well in midfield. He’s featured in 25 Premier League games so far and with Romeo Lavia still out injured, Pochettino needed Fernandez to be fit for this all-important tie.
Axel Disasi’s return is also a welcome sight for the Chelsea manager because if he is not available then Poch will have to use Thiago Silva and Badiashile in central defence. Silva has been otherwise brilliant in Chelsea blue but his manager won’t like the idea of putting a 39-year-old against Erling Haaland and co.
The pair will get one more day to get themselves up to speed so there’s a very good chance that they won’t miss out on Saturday.
However, Enzo Fernandez and Disasi are the only two positives for Chelsea because they still have eight more players missing.
Raheem Sterling is the other big name who is back in training after he missed the Everton win due to an illness. He reportedly has food poisoning which means the ex-City man should also be available for selection for the FA Cup clash. Sterling’s return will push Mudryk back to the bench because the England international clearly prefers playing out on the left rather than a centre-forward or a false nine.
With Enzo Fernandez set to come back, Poch will push Conor Gallagher into a more advanced role with Enzo and Caicedo playing as the two holding midfielders. Cole Palmer played through the middle in that 6-0 win but with Callagher set to play in the No 10 role, the 21-year-old will move out wide right.
Chelsea’s EPL campaign has run out of steam so they have to throw the kitchen sink at Manchester City this weekend because if they can win the FA Cup, they will have redeemed themselves to a large extent.
