There aren’t many worse ways in which to try and recover from a harrowing defeat to Manchester United than to play your arch rivals and probably the best footballing side in the Premier League at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final.
But then again there are always two sides to the coin and were Chelsea to receive a moral boosting win against Tottenham this Saturday, they would be well and truly be on their way to picking up a first domestic double in seven years.
Injury and illness played their part in Chelsea’s capitulation at Old Trafford last Sunday, but despite this setback, the Blues did not endeavour to push on and instead sat back and wallowed in their own self-pity, which Marcus Rashford exploited to devastating effect.
Tottenham meanwhile cut the gap at the top of the league to just four points earlier that weekend, comfortably dispatching of Bournemouth, whilst prolific striker Harry Kane returned to the team with a goal – much to the dismay of rival fans across the country, who are well averse to the Englishman’s superb goal scoring record.
Thibaut Courtois returned to training on Wednesday having recovered from the freak injury that ruled him out of the game against Manchester United, whilst Marcos Alonso has recovered from a stomach bug that also saw him miss the game on Sunday. Gary Cahill is a doubt, however, having been admitted to hospital during the week.
Hugo Lloris will make his first start in the FA Cup since 2014, as back-up keeper Michel Vorm, who was set to play against Chelsea, picked up a knee injury. Danny Rose has returned to training but is unlikely to play a part in proceedings.
