Chelsea will be aiming for vengeance in the FA Cup final against Liverpool, and Thomas Tuchel has some intriguing options for the match at Wembley Stadium.
When Thomas Tuchel selects his team to play Liverpool in the FA Cup final on Saturday afternoon, he will be seeking to win his fourth title as Chelsea manager. He has already won the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup since coming at Stamford Bridge, but the FA Cup has escaped him thus far.
However, Liverpool's intimidating figure of Jurgen Klopp stands in their way. The Reds are still in position to win four trophies this season and complete a historic quadruple, but each of their meetings this season has been fiercely contested, and this one will be no exception.
However, Chelsea were dealt an unwelcome diversion just before the game when Romelu Lukaku's representative talked to the press regarding his client's future. Tuchel was cool about the issue, including discussing whether Kai Havertz might join the Belgian in attack, which would not have gone down well with the coaching staff.
"I only found out about it five or ten minutes ago," he said at his pre-match press conference on Friday. "It occurs occasionally in football." Because of the great level of interest, circumstances that you don't want to happen before large matches might arise. It's the way things are. It is not a distraction for me, and hopefully it is not for everyone on the squad and the team itself."
"Yes, we can play both," Tuchel said when asked if Lukaku and Havertz might start against Liverpool. "They missed a little of the sensation of being a great match together." It's extremely probable that one of the two is correct, but we won't reveal the lineup today. Listen, Romelu has recently played and scored. He tried everything he could to stay on the field. In the morning, we'll make our final call."
Goalkeepers: Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Marcus Bettinelli
Defenders: Trevoh Chalobah, Malang Sarr, Thiago Silva, Marcos Alonso, Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen
Midfielders: Saul Niguez, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Ross Barkley,Kante
Forwards: Kenedy, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner