please log in to view this image Chelsea v Leeds United 28th February@19:30 | Stamford Bridge Fresh from their latest heroics, Leeds find themselves back in midweek action, with a trip to Stamford Bridge in the last sixteen of the FA Cup. The Whites are hitting a purple patch that even Massimo Cellino would have been in awe of. Nine straight wins have propelled them to second, and find themselves just six points from top spot! In essence, Wednesday's game is a free hit for Farke's men. They are not expected to get anything from it, but face an out of sort Chelsea side, desperate for silverware. Chelsea find themselves in the bottom half of the table, with little to no chance of reaching the top five, so will be pinning their European aspirations in the Cup Competitions; starting with their trip to Wembley on Sunday in the final of the Carabao Cup. please log in to view this image Mauricio Pochettino has two days less to prepare, but the strength in depth at his disposal is far greater than Leeds, as they prepare for a rematch of the 1970 FA Cup final. Pascal Struijk (groin), Karl Darlow (dislocated thumb) and Sam Byram (thigh) are Leeds only absentee's. Connor Roberts may make his debut at right back, which could see Archie Gray taking over from Junior Firpo on the left flank. Dan James will fight it out with Wilfred Gnonto for the right wing berth, whilst fit again Patrick Bamford may be preferred to Joel Piroe to lead the line.
We need extra time at Wembley, Chelski pick up some injuries, then have a go at them, but tbh not expecting too much, need to concentrate on the Huddersfield match.
So what’s the FA going to do with the scouse cnuts over the flares, smoke bombs etc… fck all as per usual. Chelski looked totally knackered at the end.
Apparently this is the first time we've played Chelsea in the FA Cup since that 1970 final. That's a bit weird considering it's been 54 years but then we do usually bow out in the 3rd round I guess.
We did play them in the league cup last time we were in division 2 so that's probably more of a comparison. But then, it was about 12 years ago.
Firpo is the big worry for me on this one, not sure if we'd be better playing a 5-4-1 because of this. As we don't have anyone else to play there, Roberts is cup tied too I believe A win is very unlikely anyway but I don't want a thrashing. ...............mes.......... Gray...Rodon....Cooper....Ampadu...Firpo James.......Gruev....Kamara......Gnonto .............Bamford...... Summerville looks tired, more important to keep him and Rutter for league games
Talking of Connor Roberts would love to now what he thinks about playing and scoring in a big game at ER compared to similar at Turf Moor. Obviously he's still a Burnley player so not sure he can truthfully answer that at the moment.
This Don't mind if we lose, but a drubbing would definitely affect the lads confidence. And for God's sake, no extra time, we've got an early kick off against the dog botherers on Saturday.
Not sure we will see much more of Firpo tbh. Thought he was garbage, got hooked and Archie was played out of position instead of him and he looked totally fecked off when he sat on the bench. Maybe Farke has seen enough? On a more positive note, did I imagine it or did Farke have his post match close up chat (and lots of laughing from both) with Cresswell? Got distracted at that moment but think that was the case??
Still plenty of games where Firpo will play a vital role for us. Don't know what happened to him second half as he just couldn't pass the ball which is usually one of his strong points.
Maybe he is just a much better player when we are dominating rather than being dominated? That would actually explain why he looked so out of his depth in the Premier League (in my opinion)
