Nottingham Forest

PREDICTION: The Chelsea team to face Forest

 

Nottingham Forest will hope that their recent run of FA Cup giant-killings will be in their favour when they travel to Stamford Bridge tomorrow.

Last season, Forest were surprising winners at this stage of the competition at the City Ground, beating Arsenal 4-2.

Standing in their way of recreating last season’s win are defending FA Cup champions Chelsea, who currently sit 23 places above them in the English football pyramid, fourth in the Premier League.

Maurizio Sarri is expected to make several changes to his Blues side, with a Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Tottenham Hotspur just days away, especially with a recent injury crisis emerging.

Here is who the team at the Chelsea Presser are predicting will face Aitor Karanka’s Forest in South West London tomorrow.


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Predicted line-up(4-3-3) Willy Caballero; Davide Zappacosta, Andreas Christensen, Gary Cahill, Emerson; Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Cesc Fabregas, Ross Barkley; Victor Moses, Alvaro Morata, Callum Hudson-Odoi

Predicted substitutes: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, Ethan Ampadu, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Eden Hazard

Club-record signing Kepa Arrizabalaga has started in Chelsea’s last six matches and Sarri will want to rest him ahead of a congested few weeks of fixtures, meaning that Willy Caballero could make just his fourth competitive start of the season.

The back four of Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz and Marcos Alonso have started 20 out of 21 Premier League matches together this season, and with a Carabao Cup semi-final first leg with Tottenham Hotspur taking place just three days after the Forest clash, Sarri could completely reshuffle his defensive pack. Therefore, Davide Zappacosta, Andreas Christensen, Gary Cahill and Emerson could all feature, making rare starts.

Cesc Fabregas’ future at the club has been highly debated, with many reports suggesting that against Forest, the Spaniard will make his 198th and final appearance for the Blues. He and Ruben Loftus-Cheek could take the places of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho in the starting side, where Ross Barkley is likely to keep his place on the left of the three-man midfield.

With Willian, Olivier Giroud and Pedro all ruled out through injury, Chelsea’s wide options are limited, meaning that Victor Moses could emerge from the fringes to make his first appearance for the Blues since October’s win over BATE Borisov. Alvaro Morata could lead the line and will be hoping to end his current struggles in front of goal with winger Callum Hudson-Odoi back from injury and in contention to complete the side.

Chelsea’s struggles in the scoring department may be a stumbling block for them, but Forest’s lack of clean sheets in recent matches may come at the perfect time for Sarri’s side.

Score prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Nottingham Forest

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