Chelsea will hope to secure a spot in the FA Cup fifth round when they lock horns with Hull City at the MKM Stadium on Friday night. Liam Rosenior has a new injury concern to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Marc Cucurella is the latest absentee after sustaining a hamstring injury in the Premier League game against Leeds United earlier this week. The Spanish international accompanies Levi Colwill (knee), Dario Essugo (hamstring), and Jamie Gittens (thigh) in the treatment room.
Additionally, Romeo Lavia is not fit enough to feature yet for Chelsea, as he is building his fitness after recovering from a hamstring issue. Additionally, Mykhailo Mudryk continues to serve a suspension after failing a doping test several months ago. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Rosenior provided fitness updates on Cucurella and Reece James.
The Chelsea head coach said, “For Marc, it’s too early to know [the extent of the injury]. He’s definitely out for the game against Hull. We’re doing our scans and assessments on him and hopefully, it’s not too long [his absence]. Reece has done modified training; but he’s still under the weather.”
“We’ll make a decision on Reece tomorrow, but it’s good news that he’s back on the training pitch. In terms of his injury, he’s absolutely fine. He’s had a really bad bug but hopefully he’s recovered from that.”
Filip Jorgensen will hope to replace Robert Sanchez between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Hull City on Friday. Sanchez will start if Jorgensen is not fit enough. The backline will feature Josh Acheampong, Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile, and Jorrel Hato.
As for the midfield unit, Andrey Santos will line up alongside Moises Caicedo in the double pivot. Estevao Willian will reprise the no. 10 role, with Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto being the two wide attackers. Finally, Liam Delap will lead the line for the away side against Hull City on Friday. So, Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, and Joao Pedro will be among the backup options on the bench for the Blues.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; Acheampong, Fofana, Badiashile, Hato; Caicedo, Santos; Neto, Estevao, Garnacho; Delap
