Eden Hazard is set to return to the Chelsea starting XI for the Blues’ FA Cup clash with Manchester United tonight.
The Belgian came off the bench during the Europa League win over Malmo in midweek but should feature from the off against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men.
Manager Maurizio Sarri rotated his squad for the 2-1 win over the Swedish outfit, allowing a number of his key players a rest ahead of a busy upcoming schedule.However, the Italian is likely to recall the majority of his first-team stars to face United with his own job hanging in balance.
Sarri faced calls to quit after Chelsea were thumped 6-0 by Manchester City in the Premier League last weekend, shipping four of those goals inside the first 25 minutes.
The Blues boss was joined by chairman Bruce Buck in his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash with Malmo and is obviously under increased scrutiny – with Buck observing warm-up drills pitchside on Thursday.
Reports suggest Sarri could be sacked if Chelsea fail to beat one of United or Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final next weekend, giving today’s FA Cup tie added importance.
As well as Hazard coming back into the team, N’Golo Kante is expected to feature from the off after being benched in Malmo.
The Frenchman should line up alongside Jorginho while Ross Barkley could keep his place at the expense of Mateo Kovacic.
Marcos Alonso was left out of the squad entirely in midweek but should replace Emerson Palmieri at left-back, wth the Spaniard set to be tasked with shackling Alexis Sanchez.
Meanwhile, Antonio Rudiger is likely to replace Andreas Christensen at centre-back with David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta completing the back four.
Gonzalo Higuain should come in for Giroud and one of Pedro or Willian will drop to the bench alongside Callum Hudson-Odoi while Ruben Loftus-Cheek is doubtful due to a back injury.
