Chelsea line-ups for Hull City as Alejandro Garnacho and Cole Palmer agreement reached

Liam Rosenior faces some tough decisions on Friday evening with the Chelsea head coach expected to name a heavily rotated side on his return to Hull City in the FA Cup

Liam Rosenior will have the opportunity to heavily rotate his Chelsea side on Friday evening as the Blues go to high-flying Championship side Hull City in the FA Cup fourth round.

While Rosenior will not be taking his former club, where he had spells both as a manager and player, for granted, the Blues head coach may well see Friday as a chance to use some of his fringe players in what has been an extremely busy period for the squad. The 41-year-old has only been officially in charge for 37 days and in that time, Chelsea have played 10 matches in all competitions.

Seven of those have ended in victory for Rosenior and the Blues and he will be desperate to make that eight on his return to Hull this week. With all of this being said, our writers Bobby Vincent and Jake Stokes have written up what they would do if they were in Rosenior’s shoes:

FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page

Bobby Vincent

There is a fine line between taking Hull a bit lightly and rotating the team massively. Fortunately for Rosenior, Chelsea have an immensely talented squad, so whatever XI he does choose for Friday’s FA Cup fourth round tie should have enough to get the job done.

Rosenior might go for Robert Sanchez, given he hinted to us that he will pick a strong side as he wants to go far in the competition. In front of the goalkeeper, Josh Acheampong could move to right-back with Reece James still recovering from an illness. Mamadou Sarr could make his first start for the Blues since being recalled from his loan in the mid-season transfer window, with Benoit Badiashile alongside him and Jorrel Hato replacing the injured Marc Cucurella at left-back.

Andrey Santos and Moises Caicedo to continue in the centre of midfield with perhaps Estevao Willian in the No.10 role, while Enzo Fernandez gets a deserved rest. Pedro Neto on the right-hand side, Alejandro Garnacho to the left, with Liam Delap as the No.9.

Bobby’s XI: Sanchez; Acheampong, Sarr, Badiashile, Hato; Santos, Caicedo; Neto, Estevao, Garnacho; Delap

Jake Stokes

I expect Rosenior to make wholesale changes on Friday, despite his comments in the pre-match press conference. Although the Chelsea boss would probably love to put out the same starting line-up that faced Leeds on Tuesday, I think he’ll recognise the value of rotation and giving those on the fringes a chance to impress.Rosenior could make three changes to the backline, bringing in Hato, Badiashile, and Sarr, who’s yet to feature since returning from Strasbourg on loan at the end of last month.Malo Gusto has started each of the Blues’ last five games across all competitions, so he could finally be given a rest, with Acheampong keeping his place in the side and shifting to right-back. If James overcomes his illness, he should start in midfield alongside either Fernandez or Santos.In an ideal world, Caicedo gets a full rest, but, with Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia out still, he and the Chelsea captain will likely share minutes with Fernandez or Santos. On the wings, Neto and Garnacho will likely return to the starting line-up.If it were up to me, Estevao would start, having come off at around the hour mark against Leeds. But Rosenior could hold him back as an impact substitute. As for the frontline, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blues boss tries to shoehorn Marc Guiu and Delap into the starting line-up.The former earned himself a place in the starting line-up with his performance in the previous round, while the latter has rarely started in recent weeks. Of course, it’d be great to see Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro take to the pitch again, but their understudies should have more than enough quality to break down Hull.Jake’s XI: Sanchez; Acheampong, Sarr, Badiashile, Hato; James, Fernandez; Neto, Garnacho; Delap, Guiu

Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings