Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri, has named a strong squad to face Dynamo Kiev, in the second leg of their Europa League round of 16 clash on Thursday.
Sarri has rested key players during trips to Greece (PAOK), Belarus (BATE), and Hungary (Vidi FC) in the group stages, as well as in the first knockout round against Malmo, when Marcos Alonso was dropped and Ruben Loftus-Cheek had to stay behind through injury.
However, he is not taking any chances this time around.
The only absence is a forced one, as Gonzalo Higuain has apparently been struck down by a fever.
“He had a fever after the league match for two days. Yesterday in the evening with the doctor we decided to leave him at home in order to recover him for the next match,” Sarri told reporters.
The rest of the 21-man traveling squad is as follows:
GOALKEEPERS: Arrizabalaga, Caballero, Bulka
DEFENDERS: Rudiger, Christensen, Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Alonso, Emerson, Zappacosta, Ampadu
MIDFIELDERS: Jorginho, Kante, Barkley, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek
ATTACKERS: Hudson-Odoi, Hazard, Pedro, Willian, Giroud
With Chelsea holding a 3-0 first leg lead, surely just about any reasonable combination of these name should (“should”) be able to finish the job. Higuain’s absence probably not a big deal in any case since Giroud, who’s the team’s leading goalscorer in Europe this season with six goals, was going to start anyway.
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