Giroud upfront? Willian benched? How Chelsea could line up against Spurs

Chelsea have lost their race to have Gonzalo Higuain available for the Carabao Cup clash with Tottenham tonight.

The Argentine joined on a loan deal from Juventus yesterday, but the paperwork was not completed in time for the striker to face Spurs. Maurizio Sarri will instead have to hope his existing squad can overturn a 1-0 deficit following Harry Kane’s penalty in the first leg.

With Higuain unavailable, the Blues boss has a decision to make in attack with Olivier Giroud and Eden Hazard both potential options up front. Chelsea had planned to complete the Higuain deal and have the 31-year-old ready to face Tottenham, but the loan move was not finalised before yesterday’s 12pm cut-off.

Instead, Hazard could be deployed as a ‘false nine’ again with two of Pedro, Willian or Callum Hudson-Odoi on the flanks.

Picking Giroud would offer a greater physical threat in attack and also allow Hazard to revert to his favoured position out wide.

However, the French striker has scored just five goals in all competitions for Chelsea this season and is not regarded highly by Sarri.

The Blues are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Arsenal last time out and have a healthy squad to select from, with just Ruben Loftus-Cheek unavailable due to a back injury.

Jorginho and N’Golo Kante are expected to be joined by Ross Barkley in central midfield if Mateo Kovacic is rested.

Meanwhile, Andreas Christensen and Emerson Palmieri could come into the back four at the expense of David Luiz and the underperforming Marcos Alonso.

However, Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta are likely to keep their places with a spot in the final against Manchester City resting on the game’s outcome.