Xabi Alonso gave some of his outfield players the chance to impress on Wednesday night, but the Chelsea manager will have wanted more as his side crashed out of the Carabao Cup against Liverpool.
True, the game technically ended in a 1-1 draw, but the Reds advanced with a chaotic penalty shootout. There were elements of Chelsea’s performance that Alonso was pleased with, but that was of little consolation to the 6,000-plus supporters who traveled to Merseyside on a chilly Wednesday night.
Alonso will have just one proper meeting with his players at Cobham ahead of Saturday afternoon’s home Premier League clash with Manchester United. The Blues will have a recovery session today (Thursday) before training on Friday afternoon to prepare for the trip of Michael Carrick’s side.
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To keep things fresh, Alonso is expected to make numerous changes to his Chelsea XI. The goalkeeper is set to remain the same as Mike Penders, who was better against Liverpool on Wednesday.
The Belgian goalkeeper responded well to a torturous evening against Tottenham, where the 21-year-old scored an own goal to give Spurs the lead at Stamford Bridge.
Josh Acheampong is likely to keep his place on the right side of defense, while Levi Colwill will replace Maxence Lacroix, who limped off with a knee problem at Anfield. Chelsea will assess the extent of the Frenchman’s injury today, but given it’s hamstrings, it makes him an automatic doubt for Saturday’s clash.
Wesley Fofana could start, despite being far from his impressive form at Liverpool. This is due to the lack of personnel in the center of the defense, if Lacroix is indeed ruled out, more than anything else.
Remarkably, on Wednesday, Romeo Lavia completed 90 minutes in a competitive match for the first time since joining Chelsea in the summer of 2023. With heavy minutes at the feet of the Belgian midfielder, Alonso was able to take him off the sidelines and hand Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson the keys to the engine room.
However, Alonso pointed to a minor problem Caicedo had against Liverpool. Alonso Estevao explained the decision not to start Willian, saying: “The game was very tense, we knew it was going to be physical and then we had to deal with Moi, he had a little problem, Malo, he had cramps.”
Judging purely by Alonso’s comments and nothing else, it sounded like more of a precaution to send Caicedo off. We will hear more from the Chelsea manager about his injured players in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
In attack, Cole Palmer will return after serving his one-match ban at Anfield. Pedro Neto and Morgan Rodgers are expected to be used either side of Palmer, with the No.9 role currently up for debate.
Emmanuel Emega, who made his debut on Tuesday night, impressed in his cameo, although he missed a crucial penalty in the shootout. Alonso may be tempted to use a more experienced option in Danny Welbeck, who will be hoping to score against his former club on Saturday afternoon.
Possible Chelsea XI: Penders; Acheampong, Colwill, Fofana, Hato; Caicedo, Henderson; Grandson, Palmer, Rogers; Wellbeck