Chelsea v Arsenal live: Carabao Cup semi-final team news as William Saliba and Cole Palmer face late injury calls – UK Times

Another big game for Arsenal means there will be more scrutiny of their big-money striker Viktor Gyokeres, should he start this evening.

Gyokeres has not scored from open play in his last 10 appearances for Arsenal, with nine of those starts. His only goal in that run was a penalty against Everton.

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior has played down suggestions his Stamford Bridge debut against London rivals Arsenal is the biggest game of his managerial career.

Just over a week on from his appointment on a six-and-a-half-year contract, the 41-year-old will lead the Blues into Wednesday evening’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against the Premier League leaders.

Rosenior arrived in west London following an impressive spell with French club Strasbourg after almost leading Hull to the Championship play-offs following an interim stint in charge of Derby.

Mikel Arteta revealed Arsenal could be without four key players for their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Chelsea .

Arteta disclosed new injury concerns over William Saliba and Leandro Trossard, while adding that Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori remain sidelined.

“Those two [Hincapie and Calafiori] are not available yet and the others that we have are Willie [Saliba] and Leo [Trossard]. Those two are a doubt,” explained the Spaniard.

While Arteta did not offer any more information on the nature of Saliba and Trossard’s issues, he did clarify that the club “don’t know” the results of Hincapie’s scan while providing more information on Calafiori.

Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior will make late decisions on the fitness of Reece James and Cole Palmer, as well as Malo Gusto, ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal.

“I’ll make a decision on Cole, Reece and Malo,” Rosenior said. “I’m giving them some extra time. I’ve got time to make a decision. I haven’t made a decision on the team. We’ll make that decision tomorrow or on the morning of Wednesday.”

Kai Havertz returned as a substitute against Portsmouth on Sunday but this one is likely to come too soon for a starting berth against his former club. Defensive options Piero Hinacpie, Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera are all on the brink of a return while Leandro Trossard and William Saliba face late fitness tests.

Chelsea will make a late call on key duo Cole Palmer and Reece James, after both missed the win against Charlton, with Malo Gusto also facing a late fitness test. In a further blow, Moises Caicedo is suspended after picking up his second yellow card in the competition in December’s win at Cardiff.

Liam Rosenior takes charge of his first Chelsea match at Stamford Bridge as the Blues host Premier League leaders Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-finals on Wednesday.

Rosenior got off to a perfect start in his first match in the Blues dugout as his side beat Charlton 5-1 in the FA Cup third round on Saturday night.

As for Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, they are unbeaten since losing to Aston Villa at the start of December, including a penalty shoot-out win over Crystal Palace in the quarter-finals, and last time out defeated Portsmouth 4-1 in the FA Cup.

It finished all-square the last time these two met in November, with Mikel Merino cancelling out Trevoh Chalobah’s goal in a match memorable for Moises Caicedo’s red card in the first-half.