Chelsea are well fancied to go deep in the FA Cup and the eight-time winners travel to the MKM Stadium on Friday night to take on Championship highflyers Hull in the fourth round.
The match is due to kick off at 7:45pm and will be shown live on BBC One and TNT Sports 1.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Hull
Chelsea XI (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, Sarr, Badiashile, Hato; Caicedo, Santos; Neto, Estevao, Garnacho; Delap.
Chelsea team news vs Hull
Chelsea captain Reece James is a major doubt for the trip to Hull – the skipper is struggling with illness and missed the midweek Premier League draw with Leeds United. He has been back on the training pitch since, but will probably be left out of the starting line-up at the MKM Stadium.
Another Chelsea defender, Marc Cucurella, will definitely not be in the line-up. The left-back went off at half-time against Leeds with a hamstring injury.
Blues chief Liam Rosenior seems likely to make lots of changes and is expected to hand starts to some of his fringe players.
Malo Gusto may be given the nod at right-back if James is left out to recover from his bug. Josh Acheampong is another option for Rosenior in that position. Mamadou Sarr has been recalled from his loan at Strasbourg and the Senegal international may get a start.
Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro and Trevoh Chalobah will probably be given a breather, allowing some new names to start for the Londoners. Hull are riding high in the Championship, but Rosenior will expect whatever side he names to outclass this opposition.
Resting Robert Sanchez and starting Filip Jorgensen is another option for Rosenior, but dropping his first-choice goalkeeper may be a sign of taking Hull too lightly, as there are only three teams above the Tigers in the Championship table.
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Rosenior returns to Humberside
The most fascinating aspect of this fixture is that Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior is returning to a club he once managed. Hull’s Turkish chairman, Acun Ilicali, controversially sacked Rosenior from the Humberside hotseat in 2024.
Rosenior spent 18 months in charge of Hull, first saving them from relegation, then getting to within a point of the Championship play-offs. Ilicali did not like Rosenior’s playing style, so wielded the axe.
Ilicali insists he does not regret his decision and that he has full faith in current manager Sergej Jakirovic. The Tigers chairman also believes Hull striker Oli McBurnie is one of the best in Europe.
McBurnie, who has scored 13 goals in 24 games this season, will lead the line for Hull against Chelsea. How the Blues handle the threat of the Leeds-born forward could be the key to how this fixture unfolds.
If McBurnie fails to sparkle, even a significantly understrength Chelsea side can be expected to comfortably progress to the fifth round of the cup.
Liam Delap, who had a loan spell at Hull in the 2023-24 season, may be facing his old club on Friday night and will fancy his chances of opening the scoring.