Putting four unanswered goals past Preston North End in the FA Cup would seemingly be the perfect warm-up for a trip to another Championship outfit in Middlesbrough for Chelsea, who ventured to the Riverside at a time where the Boro squad was ravaged by injuries, ineligible players and international call-ups.
The odds were firmly stacked against Michael Carrick’s men in the EFL Cup, but the former Manchester United midfielder unexpectedly got one over the West London giants yet again on Tuesday evening, where the highly-rated Hayden Hackney propelled Middlesbrough to a memorable triumph.
Whether Boro can make lightning strike twice at Stamford Bridge on January 23 remains to be seen, but before Chelsea can dream dreams of revenge and a potential trip to Wembley, a third successive Premier League win is the current priority on Pochettino’s agenda.
Despite ending a forgettable 2023 with back-to-back successes over Crystal Palace and Luton Town – prevailing by one goal on each occasion – Chelsea just cannot sneak into the single figures, as they remain 10th in the standings but with just a three-point disadvantage to make up to Brighton & Hove Albion in seventh.
After winning just three Premier League games at home from January 2023 to November 2023, Chelsea turned their Stamford Bridge fortunes around to take nine points from a possible nine on familiar territory in December, but not since July 2020 have they earned four successive top-flight wins at home.
As well as Africa Cup of Nations representative Nicolas Jackson, a plethora of stricken Chelsea players will watch on from the sidelines this weekend, including Wesley Fofana (knee), Marc Cucurella (ankle), Robert Sanchez (knee), Trevoh Chalobah (thigh), Lesley Ugochukwu (hamstring), Reece James (hamstring) and Romeo Lavia (thigh).
The Blues must also cope without the luckless Christopher Nkunku, who missed the loss to Boro with a fresh hip concern, while Ben Chilwell (hamstring), Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) and Benoit Badiashile (unspecified) have all resumed full training, and the former and latter are expected to be in the squad here.
Pochettino curiously opted against deploying Armando Broja at the tip of the attack at the Riverside, although the Argentine confirmed that he simply wanted to manage the Albanian’s workload, and it would therefore not be a shock to see him regain his spot in the XI here.
Meanwhile, Fulham welcomed veteran defender Tim Ream back to the matchday squad for their semi-final showdown with Liverpool, although the 36-year-old was only an unused substitute after recovering from a calf issue, and the visitors remain without Adama Traore (thigh) for the time being.
Harrison Reed also stayed down after taking a whack to the side at Anfield on Wednesday, and Silva also revealed that the midfielder was not feeling 100% before the game began, so a recall for Tom Cairney would not be a shock.
Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Fode Ballo-Toure are all unavailable on account of their AFCON call-ups, but most of Silva’s starters from Wednesday evening ought to be deployed from the first whistle again, unless jellied legs force the Fulham manager’s hand.
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Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Silva, Colwill; Gallagher, Fernandez; Sterling, Palmer, Mudryk; Broja
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Castagne, Adarabioyo, Diop, Robinson; Palhinha, Cairney; Decordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian; Jimenez
