Prior to their Carabao Cup quarter-final match against Brentford, Thomas Tuchel was forced to call in reinforcements from within the Chelsea ranks.
The manager looked over the academy camp and handpicked a few lucky winners to join first-team training due to a number of positive covid cases and a few injury concerns.
Tuchel and several of the players who did not play against Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend were photographed practicing their skills alongside at least eight junior stars.
This is a fantastic chance for those with potential to impress Chelsea's manager and earn a place in the squad to face Brentford tomorrow.
We even have a feeling that a few of them will be named to the starting lineup.
Our predicted starting XI for Wednesday's cup match is as follows:
Defence
From the front to the back, there will undoubtedly be a slew of changes, starting with the rear guard.
Kepa Arrizabalaga returns to his usual cup role, and he may be called upon to perform some penalty heroics once more.
Malang Sarr takes over on the left side of defense, which means Antonio Rudiger is retained from the Wolves draw but now plays centrally.
Xavier Mbuyamba, a defender who has been tipped to break into Tuchel's side in the future, stands to his right.
Midfield
This is the part of the field where the coach can start tinkering.
He switches his entire midfield to give the youngsters a thorough workout.
Due to his limited attacking options, Tuchel opts for three men in the middle.
Jorginho is back after missing the trip to Molineux, as is Ross Barkley, who didn't play at all despite making the trip to the Midlands.
Harvey Vale, a relatively inexperienced figure who has already made the Chelsea bench this season, sits alongside the experienced pair.
After playing 45 minutes more than he was supposed to on Sunday, N'Golo Kante gets a break.
The £30 million man (BBC) and Mateo Kovacic are set to face Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
Before today, Hakim Ziyech may have had no idea who Bryan Fiabema was, but they should get to know each other soon, as we believe they could work together in attack.
Due to a minor issue, Ziyech had to be removed against Wolves, but Tuchel didn't believe it was too serious.
Fiabema has been in good form for the Under-23s this season, scoring eight goals in 15 appearances.
Chelsea predicted XI vs Brentford: Kepa; Sarr, Rudiger, Mbuyamba; Hall, Barkley, Jorginho, Vale, Rankine; Ziyech, Fiabema
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