Chelsea FC had a fun day out at Swansea City last weekend, but came back to earth a bit in a disappointing 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield in the Capital One Cup. An FA Cup match against League One side Bradford City could be the perfect way to reinvigorate Chelsea FC supporters and players after the disappointment of a draw at Anfield.
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Bradford City, although currently in the 4th tier of English football, have a history of dashing top level teams hopes. They are the only 4th tier team to ever reach a major cup final at Wembley, as they reached the Capital One Cup final against Swansea City in the 2012/13 campaign. Chelsea will hope to knock them off and continue on with the ultimate goal of capturing another FA Cup, the clubs 8th.
Chelsea FC captain John Terry is looking ahead to the match and the magic of the FA Cup, the worlds oldest club football competition. Speaking to the Chelsea website, he stated “I’m English, I’ve grown up watching it on TV, it means the world to me and I know it means the world to the supporters,”. Although he will not play, the defender will certainly be excited to cheer on his teammates.
By thearcticblues from United States of America (ChelseaASRoma-30 Uploaded by Dudek1337) , via Wikimedia CommonsChelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho has stated he is happy with his side and has a full squad to select with. He will rest captain John Terry, but has stated Petr Cech will feature in goal again and Mohamed Salah and Andre Schurrle will also feature against the Bantams, despite numerous transfer rumors.
I like Schurrle and Salah and I need and I trust them. I can’t select the same 18 players every game and I can only start 11. Salah is not playing a lot, Schurrle is more than him, but they been involved in every competition including the Champions League. I count on them and tomorrow both are selected to play.”- Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho
Chelsea FC Team News
As stated before, Salah and Schurrle will feature for Chelsea, as will Petr Cech in goal. John Terry will get a rest, which means we will most likely see young Kurt Zouma getting his 3rd start of the month alongside Gary Cahill. Zouma impressed against Watford and was excellent against Newcastle. He is making a serious push for more playing time so Cahill should be on alert.
Cesar Azpilicueta is still recovering from injury though he was on the bench for the match against Liverpool. Look for the Blues to play with urgency and try to put the match away early, no one wants a replay in an already crowded fixture list. That is why we may not see a very young lineup with the likes of Ruben Loftus Cheek and Andreas Christensen. Perhaps if the match is put to bed early enough some youngsters can be brought on to see out the match.
Chelsea FC Predicted Starting XI
————————–Cech—————————
—Ivanovic———–Zouma——-Cahill———Luis
—————Fabregas————-Matic————–
—-Schurrle————-Salah———-Hazard——-
—————————Costa————————
Predicted Result
Chelsea FC 3-1 Brandford City
The Blues have too much attacking talent for me to not pick them over Bradford City. Chelsea should move on to the next round of the FA Cup.
UTC!