Lewis Hall makes his second-ever start for Chelsea's senior side against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup third-round.
Graham Potter confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that Hall and his fellow academy team-mate Omari Hutchinson would travel with the rest of the senior squad to the Etihad Stadium. A gruelling October and start to November has forced Potter to make a host of changes to the Chelsea side that were beaten 1-0 against Arsenal at the weekend.
With Hall making his Carabao Cup debut for Chelsea at perhaps the toughest place to travel to in England, it shows how highly rated the teenager is by the club. football.london has profiled the Chelsea starlet ahead of this evening's game.
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Who is Lewis Hall?
The 18-year-old is an energetic box-to-box player, who can play in a variety of positions. He has featured as a left-back, left wing-back, a central midfielder and even on the wing for the club's Development Squad.
Hall has been part of the Chelsea academy system since his Under-8s season and continues to progress into one of the strongest young players in the talented programme. His progression in the academy earned him a first-team debut for Chelsea last season in the FA Cup third round against Chesterfield.
"It was his performance in general and his attitude in training," former head coach Thomas Tuchel said when asked why he started Hall in the back-three. "The quality he showed was very calm and very good in our possession games and the little games he trained in. He never really trained with the full squad, so it was more small-sided games but he was good."
In that game, Hall produced an assist for Romelu Lukaku and looked very good throughout. It was the latest reminder, if needed, about how well run Chelsea's academy system.
"Ever since I was a kid being at Chelsea this is what I worked towards," Hall said after his senior debut. "To finally get the opportunity and in front of my family and the amazing fans it is an incredible feeling.
"I came through the development system at six to eight and got my first contract at nine and have been progressing to this moment. We had a meeting during the day when he [Tuchel] announced the team and I was really nervous straight away.
"I saw my name on the team sheet and I was shaking. It took a few hours to process it."
He's someone who clearly caught the eye of the Chelsea first-team stars on that day as well. Callum Hudson-Odoi, now on loan at Bayer Leverkusen, hailed Hall as "amazing" after his man of the match display on his debut last year.
"He was amazing," Hudson-Odoi said on Hall. "I said to him throughout the whole game just keep playing the way you are playing.
"From early you could spot it, how confident he was on the ball, driving with the ball. Defensively he was solid as well and I'm very happy for him. Hopefully he can keep going."
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