How should Chelsea line up against Arsenal in the first leg of the League Cup semifinal?

In his pre-match press conference, Liam Rosenior was not able to categorically confirm or deny whether Cole Palmer, Reece James, or Malo Gusto would be fit for this game, but considering that they only missed the weekend’s FA Cup match because of precautionary, load-management concerns, it’s probably safe to assume that they will be available for selection.

“They’re being managed. It was a good time for them to rest in the FA Cup game. I believe in this group. There’s no reason to take risks on players’ health if you believe that you can win the game…”

-Liam Rosenior; source: Football.London

We’ve done a pretty good job this season in managing the workloads of players like James, or, say, Wesley Fofana, keeping them fit for when they are most needed. But this game would certainly qualify as an hour of need.

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Unlike all the other rounds of this League Cup, this is a two-legged semifinal, with the second leg, away, to follow in a few weeks. So we can’t win the tie, but we can certainly lose it in this first leg. Unfortunately, Moisés Caicedo is suspended after picking up two yellow cards in the previous two rounds of this competition.

Choose wisely.

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