Antonio Conte suggests that Emerson Palmieri will start against Hull City!
In an interview with Chelsea TV, cited by the Metro, Antonio Conte has suggested that new-signing Emerson Palmieri and Ethan Ampadu will start our FA Cup fifth-round tie against Hull City on Friday night.
The Blues defeated Newcastle United 3-0 in the previous round of the tournament, and the Hull game is viewed as the perfect opportunity to rotate the team ahead of a massive clash against Barcelona in the Champions League next week.
Many supporters anticipated that Emerson would have started against West Bromwich Albion on Monday night. However, Antonio Conte opted to play Davide Zappacosta at left wing-back as opposed to giving Emerson his Chelsea debut.
It is likely that we’ll see many key players rested on Friday night with an eye cast towards an enormous challenge in Europe’s premier club competition.
Here’s what Conte said in his interview.
‘Yes, but first of all, I want to tell you that we want to go through to the next round.’
‘We want to try to win this game and then to prepare also our confidence in the right way before the games against Barcelona and then two tough games in the league against United and City.’
‘But at the same time I think that my players deserve a chance, players like Ampadu deserve to play.
‘For sure Emerson is ready to play from the start. But for sure we want to win.’
What are your thoughts? Let us know!
