Djordje Petrovic will start in goal, while Thiago Silva in contention to feature for Chelsea against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.
It has been a disappointing season for Chelsea, and they will look to lift the spirits around the club by winning a trophy when they take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday. A win over Liverpool could give them a massive confidence boost and help them finish the season strongly.
The Blues are in reasonably good form heading into this game, picking up two wins and a draw from their last three matches across all competitions. They will hope to extend their impressive run and take advantage of Liverpool’s injury problems here. But Chelsea have a number of injury issues to deal with heading into this game as well.
They will be without Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Benoit Badiashile, and Marc Cucurella. Summer signing Romeo Lavia continues to be plagued with injuries, and he will miss out as well. Meanwhile, Thiago Silva has a chance to feature, with Pochettino discussing his situation during his pre-match press conference. He also spoke about the goalkeeping conundrum in the presser.
The Chelsea boss said, “We need to assess a few players still to see if they can be involved on Sunday. We will know tomorrow if we can recover some players from injury. Thiago has a chance, tomorrow we will see if he is ready to be involved in the game.”
On the goalkeeping situation, Pochettino said, “I have decided who will be the goalkeeper. 99 per cent my team is in my head. I have not told the players yet because always, anything can happen. So I prefer to wait until tomorrow, or maybe after tomorrow.”
Djordje Petrovic will start in goal instead of Robert Sanchez for the Blues. In the back four, Malo Gusto and Ben Chilwell will start as the full-backs. Axel Disasi will feature alongside Levi Colwill in the central defensive unit.
In the midfield pivot, Moises Caicedo will look to break up opposition attacks and protect the backline. Enzo Fernandez will add creativity and control alongside him. Conor Gallagher will start as the box box midfielder and he will look at drive and creativity to the side.
Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling will look to add goals and creativity from the flanks. Finally, Nicolas Jackson will lead the line for Chelsea against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Colwill, Chilwell; Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling; Jackson
