The Liam Rosenior era at Chelsea is officially up and running, but tougher tests are right around the corner. On Saturday night, the Blues demolished Charlton Athletic 5-1 in the FA Cup third round at the Valley. Jorrel Hato broke the deadlock spectacularly in first-half stoppage time, before Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu, Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernández all netted after the interval in South London.
Now, Rosenior will be welcomed to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night when his side face Arsenal in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final. It is eight years since the Blues' most recent domestic trophy triumph, so expect both sides to be at full strength with a spot at Wembley on the line.
Understandably, given that they were facing a struggling EFL Championship side, Rosenior allowed plenty of fringe players to start at the Valley. Filip Jörgensen, Josh Acheampong, Jorrel Hato, Jamie Gittens, Facundo Buonanotte and Guiu to name but a few.
For the mid-week clash with Arsenal, Moisés Caicedo is suspended but Marc Cucurella can return following a one-match ban of his own. Given this, and the fact that the Premier League leaders and their hated cross capital rivals are the visitors, here are three players Rosenior must start.
3 Chelsea starters Liam Rosenior can’t afford to bench vs Arsenal
Robert Sánchez
Since the start of last season, understudy Filip Jörgensen has started all five EFL Cup ties. In fact, of the Danish international's 31 appearances for the club, only eight have come in the Premier League, accumulating 14 during last season's Conference League campaign.
Thus, Jörgensen was very much Enzo Maresca's cup keeper, but Rosenior may have to be ruthless and go with number one Robert Sánchez for this semi-final. Despite being widely criticised, the Spaniard has eight Premier League clean sheets to his name this season, only compatriot David Raya has more. He has also produced crucial saves at crucial times, proving his worth on numerous occasions.
At the other end of the pitch, Mikel Arteta is likely to start his cup keeper, meaning it'll be a return to Stamford Bridge for Kepa Arrizabalaga. Nevertheless, going with Jörgensen could be a mistake.
Andrey Santos
As already mentioned, Moisés Caicedo will not be involved in Wednesday night's first leg. This is because the Ecuadorian international has accumulated two yellow cards throughout the Carabao Cup. Having been booked in the 94th minute at Molineux against Wolves, Caicedo was cautioned by referee Tony Harrington in Cardiff last month for sarcastically clapping the match official.
In his absence, which is a major blow, Rosenior will surely deploy Andrey Santos as Fernández's midfield partner. The Brazilian has impressed pretty much every time he has been given an opportunity this season, particularly doing so at Turf Moor in November.
Likely to be up against Martín Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Martin Ødegaard, the Gunners' first-choice trio, Santos will be key to counteracting any midfield dominance Arteta will be seeking.
Cole Palmer
Back in August 2023, Cole Palmer began the campaign by scoring against both Arsenal in the Community Shield and Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup. That was, of course, back when he was only a lesser-known Manchester City academy graduate, sold to Chelsea for £42.5 million mere days later, which has turned out to be the best piece of business during the Clearlake-era.
Palmer, who was not even on the bench at the Valley on Saturday, has 47 goals and 29 assists to his name in just 107 appearances for Chelsea. Of these goals, only four have come this season, but despite the annual influx of highly-rated youngsters, Palmer does remain the Blues' talisman.
However, his record, or lack thereof, against Arsenal is bizarre. Palmer has missed three of five meetings with the Gunners since his move to West London due to illness or injury, an unused substitute when the two teams drew 1-1 in November. Well, hoping to face them this time, the 23-year-old is the Blues' most-likely match-winner if they are going to make it to Wembley in March.