Reece James and Romeo Lavia will likely get some minutes off the bench when Chelsea and Morecambe clash in the FA Cup third-round tie at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Chelsea will aim to progress to the FA Cup fourth round when they welcome Morecambe to Stamford Bridge for the third-round tie on Saturday afternoon. And Enzo Maresca has greeted a positive update on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Reece James (hamstring), Romeo Lavia (thigh), and Carney Chukwuemeka (illness) are fit and available to take on after stepping up their recoveries from their issues. However, Wesley Fofana (thigh), Benoit Badiashile (hamstring), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (unspecified), and Omari Kellyman (hamstring) remain on the sidelines.
Mykhailo Mudryk remains unavailable after recently failing a doping test, while Aaron Anselmino will take some time to be ready for action. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Maresca provided a fitness update on James, Anselmino, and Lavia.
The Chelsea manager said, “Yes Reece and Romeo are both available and hopefully they can get some minutes for tomorrow’s game. The rest are all available for selection other than those that were already injured from before. Benoit Badiashile and Wesley [Fofana] are out and Kiernan [Dewsbury-Hall] is still injured, so he won’t be involved.”
“No, we won’t see Aaron [against Morecambe]. It’s still too early for him and the plan is to get him into condition to get him some minutes in the future, but not now. He had some injuries while with Boca and we will give him time to settle in here. To get used to English football, English weather and from there, we will look to use him.”
Maresca will ring in the changes, with Chelsea lining up with a second-string starting lineup. Filip Jorgensen will take his spot between the sticks, with the home side lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him. The backline should feature Josh Acheampong, Axel Disasi, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Renato Veiga. So, James will be a backup option on the bench.
As for the midfield unit, Chukwuemeka and Samuel Rak-Sakyi should pair up in the double pivot, with Christopher Nkunku reprising the no. 10 role. Lavia will make a cameo appearance off the bench. Finally, Marc Guiu will lead the line for the Blues against Morecambe, with Noni Madueke and Joao Felix being the two wide attackers.
Predicted Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; Acheampong, Disasi, Adarabioyo, Veiga; Chukwuemeka, Rak-Sakyi; Madueke, Nkunku, Felix; Guiu
