After being beaten by Liverpool on Wednesday evening, Xabi Alonso's attention now turns to Chelsea's Premier League showdown with Manchester United on Saturday afternoon
Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso's Chelsea side were beaten on penalties by Liverpool(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
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Xabi Alonso gave some of his fringe players the opportunity to impress on Wednesday evening but the Chelsea manager would have wanted more as his side crashed out of the Carabao Cup to Liverpool.
Granted, the game was technically a 1-1 draw, but the Reds were the ones who progressed via a chaotic penalty shootout. There were elements of Chelsea's performance that Alonso was pleased with but that offers little consolation to the 6000-plus supporters who made the trek to Merseyside on a chilly Wednesday night.
Alonso will only have one proper session with his players at Cobham before Saturday afternoon's home clash with Manchester United in the Premier League. The Blues will be doing a recovery session today (Thursday) before training on Friday afternoon to prepare for the visit of Michael Carrick's side.
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To keep things fresh, Alonso is expected to make numerous changes to his Chelsea XI. The goalkeeper, however, is set to stay the same with Mike Penders performing much better against Liverpool on Wednesday.
The Belgian goalkeeper reacted well to an agonising evening against Tottenham, where the 21-year-old punched the ball into his own net to give Spurs the lead at Stamford Bridge.
Mike Penders
Mike Penders was excellent in Chelsea's clash with Liverpool(Image: Carl Recine)
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Josh Acheampong is likely to keep his place on the right-hand side of defence, while Levi Colwill is set to come in for Maxence Lacroix, who limped off at Anfield with a hamstring problem. Chelsea will assess the extent of the France international's injury today but given it is his hamstring, it automatically makes him a doubt for Saturday's clash.
Wesley Fofana seems likely to start despite his far-from-impressive display in Liverpool. That is more down to a lack of personnel in the centre of defence, if Lacroix is indeed ruled out, more than anything else.
Remarkably, on Wednesday, Romeo Lavia completed 90 minutes for the first time in a competitive match since joining Chelsea in the summer of 2023. With heavy minutes in the Belgian midfielder's legs, Alonso could take him out of the side and give Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson the keys to the engine room.
However, Alonso hinted at a slight problem Caicedo sustained against Liverpool. When explaining his decision not to bring on Estevao Willian, Alonso said: "The game had very intense moments, we knew that it was going to be physical, and after that we had to deal with Moi, he had little problems, Malo as well, he had cramps."
Judged purely on Alonso's comments and nothing else, it sounded like more of a precaution to bring Caicedo off. We will hear more from the Chelsea manager on his injured players during Friday afternoon's pre-match press conference.
In attack, Cole Palmer is likely to come back in after he served his one-match suspension at Anfield. Pedro Neto and Morgan Rogers are expected to be used either side of Palmer, with who plays in the No.9 role a topic of debate at the moment.
Morgan Rogers celebrates
Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring for Chelsea against Liverpool(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA)
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Despite missing a crucial penalty in the shootout, Emmanuel Emegha, who made his debut on Wednesday night, impressed in his cameo appearance. Alonso, though, might be tempted to use the more experienced option in Danny Welbeck, who will be hoping to score against his former club on Saturday afternoon.
Possible Chelsea XI: Penders; Acheampong, Colwill, Fofana, Hato; Caicedo, Henderson; Neto, Palmer, Rogers; Welbeck
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