Thomas Tuchel has made three changes to his Chelsea side for this afternoon's FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium – the most surprising of which is Thiago Silva stepping out of the defence and Andreas Christensen returning to the middle of the back three.
The Blues head into today's game at Wembley off the back of their Champions League elimination against Real Madrid on Tuesday night. Tuchel's side did come away victorious on the night after a final performance at the Bernabeu against the Spanish giants but lost 5-4 on aggregate. It resulted in mixed emotions among the squad.
Tuchel has, though, reiterated it's the positives from the performance that must be focused upon. And he will want his side to produce another fine display this afternoon and secure their place in a third consecutive FA Cup final – Chelsea have lost their previous two finals to Arsenal and Leicester City.
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A sign of intent from Tuchel is that Edouard Mendy has been named in goal ahead of Kepa Arrizabalaga, who has lost his status as Chelsea's domestic cup goalkeeper in recent weeks. There are changes in the back three with Christensen in the centre for Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta coming back into the starting XI having recovered from Covid.
The Chelsea captain will take up his spot on the right of the backline and Reece James has been shifted out to his favoured right wing-back role. That means there is no place in the side for Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who Tuchel spoke about in the build-up to today's clash. On the opposite flank, Marcos Alonso keeps his place.
In midfield, Jorginho comes in for N'Golo Kante, who is among the substitutes. Mateo Kovacic keeps his spot after producing an outstanding performance in the Bernabeu in midweek. There are no alterations to the front three that have started the previous two matches: Kai Havertz starts as the number nine alongside Timo Werner and Mason Mount, both of whom scored in midweek in Madrid.
Chelsea: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; James, Kovacic, Jorginho, Alonso; Mount, Havertz, Werner
Chelsea substitutes: Kepa, Silva, Sarr, Kante, Loftus-Cheek, Saul, Pulisic, Ziyech, Lukaku
