Chelsea duo to suffer Wembley heartbreak with Thomas Tuchel set to name his best team

Thomas Tuchel is likely to name his best eleven for the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool and that could mean he will have to leave out some big names.

The German manager has been blessed with some of the world’s best players at Chelsea, and in games like a final, he will always have the daunting task of leaving some of them on the bench.

The Blues had been battling injury issues all season, but almost the entire squad turned up for training just in time for the final in Wembley.

The Chelsea boss has always favoured Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga for the domestic Cup games while first choice Edouard Mendy has been tasked with the Premier League and the Champions League duties.

The hude dilemma now is that Tuchel will have to decide if he goes with Mendy for the final or stick with Kepa who has proven more than capable this season in Mendy’s absence.

According to insider reports from the Blues camp, there could be heartbreak for the former Athletic Bilbao man with the German manager likely to replace Kepa with Mendy in the post, just like he did in the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.

There is also the big call to make on striker Romelu Lukaku, the big money signing from Inter Milan last summer.

The Belgian striker has struggled for form and was named on the bench against Lille in the Champions League.

After arriving for a record fee of £97.5 million, Lukaku has managed only five league goals and there are growing concerns that the team play better when he is on the bench.

To Lukaku’s defence, his representatives have pointed to the lack of service provided since his return to Stamford Bridge and it will be interesting to see how he responds to that if he is selected against Liverpool this afternoon.

But given how Chelsea’s attack was smooth with Champions League hero Kai Havertz leading the way against Lille, Thomas Tuchel is likely to lean towards the German forward and that would break Lukaku’s heart.

He was signed for games like this Cup final and the fact that he would be dropped will play on his mind.

Chelsea’s predicted starting eleven: Mendy, Christensen, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Azpilicueta, Kante, Kovacic, Alonso, Ziyech, Havertz, Pulisic