Wolves vs Chelsea
Venue: Molineux
Kick off: 6:30PM
John Terry is back available for the Chelsea trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers today but Marcos Alonso and David Luiz will miss the game. Yet, Antonio Conte plans to rotate his squad in in the FA Cup fifth round as he did in the previous encounter with Peterborough and Brentford.
Terry, 36, started in both FA Cup games and could be also in Conte’s back-line on Saturday, having recovered from the injury which kept him on the sidelines in the last week’s draw at Burnley.
Alonso and David Luiz will not make the squad to face Wolves but Conte ruled out a major concern, saying that the two players just need ahead of the following Premier League match with Swansea.
“Yes John Terry is fit for this game, he’s okay,” Conte confirmed in the press conference ahead of the trip to Wolves. “All the players are available but there are situations which are better to keep under control. Marcos Alonso needs a bit of rest, and with David Luiz we have an opportunity to give him a full week to recover well. All the players are in good form and the only problem I have is making the best choices for the game.”
On the other hand, Paul Lambert’s men started the year on a high, winning against Liverpool at Anfield but have not won a single game in February, which has put their hopes of qualification in dire straits.
Lambert will be hoping to have Jack Price and Nouha Dicko available for the game, but Joe Mason will be out of action until at least the next few weeks alongside Ivan Cavaleiro.
Wolves have won against Stoke City and Liverpool en route to the fifth round, showing that they have the might to get the better of high profile teams.
Should they beat Chelsea, they will be only the second team to get the better of the teams from a higher division after Wigan in 2013/14, when they lost to Arsenal in the semi-finals.
Wolves Possible XI: Ikeme, Coady, Hause, Stearman, Doherty, Edwards, Price, Weimann, Saville, Costa, Dicko.
Chelsea Possible XI: Begovic; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Cahill, Pedro, Kante, Fabregas, Ake, Willian, Hazard, Costa.