Chelsea will be looking to build on its immense performance from Tuesday with a victory in the FA Cup semifinal. Unfortunately, a 3-2 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu wasn’t enough to keep the reigning Champions of Europe in the UEFA Champions League. Their title defense is now officially over as Real Madrid moves on to the semifinals. Luckily, there isn’t much time for supporters to sit and think about the “defeat” as the Blues have their own semifinal match to worry about now.
Thomas Tuchel’s men will travel to Wembley Stadium on Sunday, a journey that never fails to get teams up for the big occasion. Their opponent on the afternoon will be Crystal Palace, a fickle foe who has only grown stronger under new manager Patrick Vieira as the season has progressed. Chelsea has taken six points from the two meetings with the Eagles in the Premier League this season, but this one is undoubtedly more important than either of those. A ticket to take on Liverpool in the final awaits the winner of this all-London FA Cup semifinal. That’s just one of the many intriguing storylines that comes with this exciting clash.
Here are three things to look for in Chelsea’s FA Cup semifinal against Crystal Palace:
1. Striker
When the Blues purchased superstar striker Romelu Lukaku for a club-record £97.5 million last summer from Inter Milan, it seemed blasphemous to suggest there would be a debate about the team’s talisman going forward. However, eight months removed from the Belgian returning to his boyhood club, those discussions are still being had around Cobham. Lukaku has struggled in his first season back in SW6. He’s not fit into Tuchel’s system as easily as some believed he would, nor has he exactly made himself a popular figure in the minds of supporters. It’s been a massive failure—for lack of a better term—on all accounts thus far.
Lukaku has only scored 12 goals in 36 appearances for Chelsea this season. He’s started just three Champions League games, he was on the bench in the Carabao Cup final and he’s missed important matches against title contenders like Liverpool. It’s not been the fairytale return many had hoped for up to this point. That being said, the 28-year-old has helped elevate the Blues to some important victories, including the FIFA Club World Cup.
In the end, not all hope is lost and this relationship seems salvageable. Lukaku has battled numerous injuries this season and gotten COVID-19. He’s been poor this season, but he’s also not been given much of a chance to get back onto the pitch for a consistent stretch and play himself back into form. Sunday could be his opportunity to do so.
Lukaku has been left on the bench lately, large in part due to the scorching form of Kai Havertz. The German wunderkind has ascended to the top of Chelsea’s scoring charts this season. He now leads the team with 13 goals and five assists in 39 outings. It’s been difficult to leave Havertz out given his form, but given the fact he played 120 minutes at the Bernabeu earlier in the week, the FA Cup semifinal could be the perfect time to slot Lukaku back into the team. The former Milan talisman has been out the last few weeks with injury, he was seen training over the last few days though. Tuchel has a big decision to make in this contest as he tries to balance the minutes for his two strikers as the season comes to a close.