Chelsea start life under Liam Rosenior with an FA Cup third round tie against Charlton Athletic on Saturday at 8pm.
Enzo Maresca was sacked on New Year’s Day, with Rosenior announced as his replacement on Tuesday. But the Englishman was in the stands as Chelsea were beaten by Fulham in midweek.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Charlton
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Acheampong, Chalobah, Adarabioyo, Hato; Santos, James; Estevao, Pedro, Gittens; Guiu.
The Blues are currently on a run of five games without a win across all competitions, drawing three and losing two. Their last win came against a lower-league side, beating Cardiff in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. But that also proved to be an anomaly, with Chelsea winning just two of their past 11 matches.
Chelsea team news vs Charlton
This is an interesting game to look ahead to. With Championship opposition, Chelsea would always have been likely to rotate slightly. But then there’s the added caveat of it being Rosenior’s first game in charge. Will he want to completely rotate, especially with a crucial Carabao Cup semi-final first leg coming up.
One decision has been made for Rosenior, with Cucurella suspended after his red card in midweek. Jorell Hato is likely to be given a chance at left-back, given the level of opposition. Josh Acheampong could come in at right-back, giving Malo Gusto a rest.
The centre-back pairing is likely to remain the same, with Chelsea not having too many favoured options. Filip Jorgensen should start in goal, as Chelsea’s domestic cup goalkeeper.
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Andrey Santos started in midweek against Fulham and could continue in the middle, due to a lack of options. Reece James may come in to partner him, but likely won’t play the full match. Rosenior won’t want to completely trust youth players, with a win crucial for morale.
There may be four changes in attack, particularly with Arsenal coming up. Estevao should be given a chance on the right, with Jamie Gittens on the left. Cole Palmer may not be risked from the start, but we could see Joao Pedro in the No. 10 role and Marc Guiu leading the line.
Chelsea’s impressive cup record
Everyone loves a cupset. But Chelsea haven’t suffered one for a while. They were famously beaten 4-2 by Bradford City in the fourth round of the FA Cup in 2014-15, despite going 2-0 up. Since then, though, Chelsea have squashed lower-league opposition.
Chelsea are unbeaten in their past 34 domestic cup ties against lower-league opposition, including two games this season. They have beat both Lincoln City and Cardiff in the Carabao Cup. Now, that run of 34 ties does include a 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough in the semi-finals of the 2023-24 Carabao Cup. But it was only in the first leg, with Chelsea winning the return fixture 6-0.
Rosenior will be hoping to continue that run this weekend. Not least because he hasn’t had the best of luck in the FA Cup. Rosenior is winless in his three FA Cup games as a manager, losing two and drawing one — all while he was in charge of Hull City. The draw came in the third round in 2023-24, but Hull lost the replay to Birmingham City.