Jose Mourinho has confirmed that the out-of-favour pair will start for Chelsea in Wednesday’s League Cup contest
Chelsea FC travel to Banks’s Stadium to take on Walsall FC in their opening Capital One Cup game on Wednesday evening. A host of changes are expected for the clash and Jose Mourinho has stated that both John Terry and Radamel Falcao will come into the starting line-up.
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The Blues, of course, won this competition last season with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the final at Wembley Stadium. It would be the first bit of silverware of Mourinho’s second spell at Stamford Bridge and would precede the club lifting the Premier League trophy later in the campaign.
However, despite a good week and a massive win against Arsenal on Saturday, Chelsea still sit eight points off league-leaders Manchester City and will require a minor miracle to successfully defend their crown. The Capital One Cup currently looks like the club’s sole realistic chance of silverware this season and thus it will be expected that Mourinho fields relatively strong teams, even against League 1 opposition like Walsall.
With that in mind, Mourinho is set to make changes, but will bring in experienced players rather than young prodigies.
"“Yes, I (will) play (Radamel) Falcao. Diego goes on the bench,” said Mourinho speaking after the Arsenal win.The Chelsea boss was then asked if Terry would also play and added: “Sure, of course.” – via The Independent"
News of either inclusion is not particularly surprising. Terry has sat out the last couple of games as Kurt Zouma and Gary Cahill have struck up a solid understanding. However, with the club in the midst of a slew of games and the latter nearly 30 year of age, Terry should come in for his fellow Englishman.
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Falcao was in contention with Loic Remy for the striker role but appears to have won the nomination. The Colombian has scored one goal so far this season but still looks as terrible as the Manchester United version. Wednesday presents him with an opportunity to build some confidence in what should be an easy game for the reigning Premier League champions.
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However, that is not to say Remy won’t be involved. He was deployed on the flank following Willan’s injury against Maccabi Tel-Aviv and could well reprise the role against Walsall.
Chelsea will be naive to underestimate their opponent, though. The Saddlers sit in second position with 17 points from their opening eight League 1 games and look set to challenge for promotion this season. Furthermore, despite the Blues’ recent resurgence they will undoubtedly be optimistic upon entering the fixture, especially with an inevitably raucous home crowd behind them.
Wednesday marks Chelsea’s next step on the road to recovery and they will be expecting Terry and Falcao to play a key role in negotiating it successfully.
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