A Blue Up North previews our 5th round FA Cup match.
This weekend sees a return to FA Cup action as Chelsea host Championship side Hull City on Friday evening. The Blues will be aiming to win their 9th consecutive home FA Cup match and progress to the 6th round for the 3rd successive season.
David Luiz, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Ross Barkley are unavailable while Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso will have late fitness tests to decide what level of involvement they may make. Antonio Conte will mix his team selection with matches against Barcelona and both Manchester clubs coming up in quick succession after this tie but the manager has stated his desire to have another long cup run after reaching the Final in this competition last season.
So this match will highlight the strength of the Italian’s squad. Although The Blues have an extra day to prepare for next Wednesday’s Champions League first leg than their Catalan counterparts, Conte is likely to name an almost completely different starting XI to face Hull than the XI who will start against Barcelona. Expect the likes of Gary Cahill, Ethan Ampadu, Danny Drinkwater, new signing Emerson, Willian and even Callum Hudson-Odoi to be given the nod on Friday.
Hull City are enduring a tough season having been relegated from the Premier League last term and currently lie just above the relegation zone in 21st place. In early December Nigel Adkins replaced Leonid Slutsky as manager after a poor run of form and results. A win in his first league match in charge lifted the belief around the club, but Adkins couldn’t repeat that feat until last time out when they won 2-0 away at Nottingham Forest.
Forest are clearly a side The Tigers enjoy facing. The East Midlands club excelled in the 3rd round and brilliantly knocked out the current holders Arsenal. But it was Adkins’s side who then defeated them in the 4th round to set up their mouth watering tie away at Stamford Bridge.
Despite their overall plight, 21 year old striker Jarrod Bowen is enjoying a relatively successful campaign with 13 goals so far. Adkins has also tightened up a leaky defence with 4 clean sheets in their last 7 matches. However, the Hull manager will be without 3 of his defenders, Michael Hector, Ola Aina and Fikayo Tomori, for this match as they are on loan at The KCOM Stadium from The Blues. Michael Dawson is struggling to be fit enough to be included while midfielder Seb Larsson is suspended.
Chelsea have never lost a competitive match at home to Hull City and, even though the home side will not be at full strength, surely that run will continue with a fifth consecutive home win over The Tigers on Friday.
After a confidence building win over bottom placed West Bromwich Albion on Monday, a comfortable passage into the quarter finals of the FA Cup will surely be exactly what Conte will be focussing on in readiness for the upcoming run of matches facing his side.
Written by Jon Ellis, home and away season ticket holder. Follow him on Twitter @ClitheroeBlue
