Thomas Tuchel has confirmed two of Chelsea’s starters against Leicester City in the FA Cup final, along with another injury boost after losing to Arsenal without two key midfielders
Thomas Tuchel has revealed a huge Chelsea fitness boost ahead of
Saturday’s FA Cup final with Leicester City, while confirming two of the Blues’
starting XI.
Chelsea are preparing to go head-to-head with the Foxes at Wembley
Stadium this weekend in their first of two attempts at silverware between now
and the end of the season, with the Champions League final still to play.
And ahead of the game, Chelsea have been boosted by the
return of key midfielder N’Golo Kante, who will be fit to face, and indeed
start against his former club in the final having missed the Arsenal clash
through ‘pain management’.
Speaking in his pre-match press
conference, Tuchel said: “We took the decision together to leave him out
against Arsenal and give him treatment.
“It was pain management, not a huge injury. It was nothing
to be afraid of getting bigger.
“He trained yesterday and today full, no complaints. He will
start tomorrow and hopefully finish the game for us.”
Mateo Kovacic will also return to the fold having missed the
last nine games through injury, requiring Billy Gilmour to step up into the
midfield.
“It’s huge because Mateo has everything we need in the
midfield: experience, power, can beat players, has physical ability and has
played big games in the Premier League,” Tuchel added.
“When we missed N’Golo and Mateo, we lacked a lot of quality,
energy and experience.
“Billy did a huge job in huge games but it’s not fair to compare
him to these players because they have more experience and are a step ahead in
their development.
“It’s big news that Kova is back because he’s a big guy in the
dressing room around important matches.”
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With Kante confirmed as a starter and Kovacic available,
Tuchel also confirmed Kepa Arrizabalaga will start having played throughout the
cup run.
“He brought us to the final so he
deserves to play in the final,” said the Chelsea boss.
Speaking about the battle for number one, he added: “Nothing
has changed. Kepa is a fantastic guy and Edou [Mendy] too. They are working at
an excellent level and an impressive way.
“Edou is No.1 and Kepa is a strong goalkeeper to have in the
squad. Tomorrow is the next challenge for him to show.”
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