Chelsea legend and former captain John Terry has claimed that a side must play their “strongest” team in the FA Cup. It comes after Manchester City were knocked out by Liverpool on Saturday, putting the Reds through to the final of the competition.
Jurgen Klopp’s men could come up against Thomas Tuchel and his Blues side that will be looking to best the side that beat them on penalties in the Carabao Cup final earlier this year. To get there though, they must first defeat Crystal Palace on Sunday at Wembley.
Discussing the threat that the Eagles possess, the manager said in his pre-match press conference: “He's [Vieira] done a fantastic job, created a very energetic team full of individual quality and very, very dangerous counter-attacking team. A committed group, very tough to play against in the league and will be a tough one.”
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However, in wake of the other semi-final being decided, Terry has had his say on a key decision from Pep Guardiola. The Spaniard decided to rotate some of his side, opting for Zack Steffen in goal over Ederson.
The American shot-stopper has been a regular in cup competitions but made a key error in holding the ball for too long. This let Sadio Mane tackle him and bundle the ball into the net, with the result going in Liverpool’s favour after.
Terry took to Twitter after the mistake and said: “That is why you don’t rest or rotate your best players. Play your best and strongest team!” It could be a key piece of advice for Tuchel as he ponders over his own selection decisions for the game.
Whether he decides to switch the side up after playing extra time in midweek remains to be seen. However, they will be needing a win to make sure their dream of more silverware can continue.
