This is one of the busiest times of the season, with Chelsea racking up two games a week for a month straight, and the squad has been picking up the appropriate number of injuries.
Recently players have been dropping like flies, with N’Golo Kante, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham, Christian Pulisic all regular starters who have dropped out of the team in the last couple of months.
The squad is so thin there’s barely been room even for rotation in recent weeks, and tonight’s game will see youngsters on the bench taking up slots again.
Billy Gilmour, Armando Broja and Tino Anjorin will all be on the bench it seems, and there’s a very good chance one of them gets a game. Ruben Loftus-Cheek played last night for the U23s and so won’t feature, meaning further space still for minutes for Gilmour in particular, who looks most likely to get on the pitch.
Fans would love to see Broja start up front, but that would be a big gamble, and it’s hard to see either Giroud or Batshuayi not playing.
Overall though, given how young these kids are, it’s amazing to think they may well be getting their chance in a big FA Cup game. The priority has to be this weekend’s Premier League match against Everton, given how tight the race for the Champions League is, which might make this a night for a young star to break out.
