Jose Mourinho today confirmed that both Gary Cahill and John Terry are set to miss our FA Cup tie with Manchester City.
John Terry has missed the last two games with a muscular problem and Gary Cahill picked up a calf injury in the draw at West Brom.
The pair have been key to Chelsea’s success in 2014 and have led the Blues to the top of the table, conceding just one goal whilst playing together this year.
David Luiz has played in John Terry’s absence recently and has looked vulnerable, but did a good enough job alongside Gary Cahill.
Looking at current first team players, it looks likely Chelsea will line up with Branislav Ivanovic and David Luiz at centre half, with Azpilicueta moving to his natural position of right-back, and Ashley Cole being drafted back into the side at left back.
It is hard to make a realistic judgement on the centre-back pairing due to their lack of games together, but at first sight it looks like Chelsea fans could be in for a long game at the Etihad.
Ivanovic has played at right-back for the whole season this term, and has been one of Jose’s first picks on the team sheet in that position.
David Luiz had been an outcast of the side since a mistake in the win against Cardiff at Stamford Bridge, but has recently been playing in a central defensive position alongside Nemanja Matic.
Luckily, for Chelsea fans, Manchester City’s top scorer Sergio Aguero was today confirmed unavailable for the game by manager Manuel Pellegrini.
However, as it has been well documented, City are blessed with an array of prolific strikers, such as Negredo, Dzeko and Jovetic that can fill in during his absence.
On the other hand, Manchester City have failed to score in their last two games, against Chelsea and Norwich.
Looking to other areas of the club, Andreas Christensen is a promising young prospect for the position of centre-half in the future.
Although it is very unlikely he will be called into the squad for tomorrow’s game, let alone this season, it is certainly a name to look out for in the future of Chelsea Football Club.
It is clear that the Blues need to add to the depth in their squad in this position, especially with the future of John Terry still uncertain.
Deadline day signing, Kurt Zouma, joins the squad next season but it is yet unclear what the manager’s immediate plans are for the 19 year old who is still a very raw talent.
There have been doubts over how seriously Mourinho would take this competition after being drawn against Manchester City.
However, in today’s pre-match press conference, he reminded fans of his affection for the oldest competition in England:
“The FA Cup is beautiful for everybody and the draw made it even more so, because two big teams will be knocked out”
