Chelsea entered the international break with a fresh complication when Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez placed his future in doubt. The club have responded by suspending Fern\u00e1ndez for the next two matches: the FA Cup quarter-final with Port Vale on Saturday and the following weekend\u2019s Premier League fixture with Manchester City.<\/p>\n
Liam Rosenior now faces a selection problem that affects both games. Sweeping changes are expected for the tie with Port Vale. The third-tier visitors are struggling at the foot of League One and are unlikely to pose a serious threat to Chelsea\u2019s progression to the FA Cup semifinals. Fern\u00e1ndez was always unlikely to feature heavily in that cup battle and had been being preserved for the City duel at Stamford Bridge, but the suspension removes that option.<\/p>\n
Fern\u00e1ndez, the Argentine who provided the equalizing goal in the draw with City in January, will be missed in the centre of Chelsea\u2019s attacking play. His absence, though, opens up alternatives. Cole Palmer and Jo\u00e3o Pedro are the obvious candidates to fill the creative void.<\/p>\n
Palmer and Fern\u00e1ndez have been contesting the No.10 spot in recent weeks, with Palmer often shunted to the right wing. “The England international is an undeniable threat no matter where he features across the forward line, but it\u2019s in attacking midfield where Palmer can be most influential.” Rosenior will almost certainly consider moving the ex-City man into the No.10 role for the Manchester City game, using his movement and ingenuity to unsettle Rodri and Co.<\/p>\n
Jo\u00e3o Pedro is another clear option. He is not expected to feature against Port Vale in the cup but will be important for the City match at Stamford Bridge. Pedro has scored 11 times during Rosenior\u2019s stint on the touchline and has monopolized the centre forward position, limiting Liam Delap\u2019s opportunities. Pedro can operate as a No.10 and might drop deeper to allow Delap to start. Liam Delap has been hugely disappointing since arriving in west London, but his speed and physical presence could prove beneficial against Pep Guardiola\u2019s aggressive defensive line.<\/p>\n
Rosenior\u2019s immediate task is pragmatic: rotate for Port Vale, then pick the combination that gives Chelsea the best chance against Manchester City without Fern\u00e1ndez.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chelsea suspend Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez for two games; Rosenior must reshuffle, Palmer and Jo\u00e3o Pedro involved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190],"tags":[1305],"class_list":["post-10675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","tag-bench-selection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}