Barnsley vs Chelsea the pre-match brief + team news

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To conclude the fifth round of the FA cup this evening Chelsea face Barnsley at Oakwell


The gap in-between the league  positionings of Barnsley and Chelsea is the biggest between any of the teams facing each other in this round of the FA Cup buy the side from Yorkshire were the last side in the championship to defeat Chelsea from the FA Cup back in 2008.

The last time these sides squared up was in the Carabao Cup, with both teams under different management. The current coaches of both teams also met in the Bundesliga four years ago this month, when Thomas Tuchel's Borussia Dortmund defeated Valerian Ismael's Wolfsburg 3-0. 

The next game in the premier league for Chelsea is when struggling Newcastle visit Stamford Bridge, however, Tuchel will not be looking ahead to this. Every child recalls the words FA Cup and Wembley as Tuchel mentioned this week, and adding the FA Cup to his list of major honours would be huge.

There appeared to be a spring in Chelsea's step and the hop appeared to be back in penalty scorer Jorginho's run-up as Chelsea achieved a 2-1 win away at Sheffield United on Sunday.

However, four days on and 12 miles away, Sheffield United's near neighbours now stand in the way of Chelsea progressing to the quarter finals for the 11th time in 20 attempts. Barnsley sit mid-table in the championship, two points and three places below Chelsea's fourth round opponents Luton Town who were beaten 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. 

Team news for Chelsea 

There appears to be somewhat of a Europa league rhythm running with games on Thursday/Sunday/Thursday this week with the matches having gone well for Thomas Tuchel.

Now the German faces his first foray in a knockout competition in England and it will be interesting to see the German's approach with no games in the premier league until Newcastle visit Stamford Bridge on Monday.

In both his spells at Dortmund and PSG, Tuchel took the domestic cup tournaments seriously, winning Germany's equivalent of the FA Cup in 2016/17 and the French equivalent in 2019/20, as well as the French league cup last season to go along with the Supercup which he won in 2018/19 and 2019/20. 

Tuchel said that there would be numerous changes made to the team in order to maintain freshness in both the mind and the body, with both Hakim Ziyech and N'Golo Kante starting. Will Tuchel try out a new system like a back four, or will be wait until Thiago Silva is back fit to martial the defence?

Players who have had to wait a while to play under Tuchel will be given their opportunity. Kepa Arrizabalaga, who wore the gloves in both outings in the FA Cup, should have done better on Luton's goal in the last round but made an excellent one hand save to maintain Chelsea's advantage at 2-1.

The likes of Christian Pulisic, back in training after Sunday's victory Kurt Zouma and Tammy Abraham will all be pressing for a place in the starting 11. Abraham scored a hattrick against Luton Town making him the first former youth team player at Chelsea since Peter Osgood in 1969/70- and is Chelsea's leading marksmen in the FA Cup. 

Throughout his managerial career Tuchel has nurtured the younger players and this may be the case this evening for Billy Gilmour and Tino Anjorin. Gilmour has played every minute of the FA Cup in central-midfield, whilst a role as a number 10 could suit Anjorin.

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Location: London, UK

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