FA Cup team news: Chelsea dealt huge injury blow, Man Utd could be without 4 players

Manchester United take on Chelsea in the semi-finals of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium on Sunday evening. Here is the latest team news ahead of the game…

Kante blow

Blues boss Frank Lampard held his pre-match press conference via video link this afternoon and he confirmed a major blow after ruling N’Golo Kante out of this weekend’s trip to Wembley.

Kante has missed Chelsea’s last three Premier League games due to a thigh injury that he sustained during the win over Watford at the start of the month and it had initially been hoped he may recover in time to feature against Man Utd this weekend.

However, Lampard confirmed today that the French international is still not ready to return to action so will miss the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday evening, which will be a big blow for the West Londoners.

Lampard told Chelseafc.com:

‘The squad is okay but N’Golo Kante won’t be fit for the match. He’s still not right so he’s out.

‘Other than that, we have a few people with a few little niggles which we’ll monitor over the next 24 hours and then we will be ready to go.’

The other absentee for Chelsea is Billy Gilmour as the young midfielder has been ruled out for up to four months following knee surgery but otherwise Lampard should have a healthy squad to choose from.

Shaw and Williams doubtful

Manchester United have also got some fitness concerns to worry about as left-back’s Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams remain doubts for the semi-final against Chelsea this weekend, according to ManUtd.com.

Shaw missed the win over Crystal Palace with an ankle injury that he sustained against Southampton while Williams also missed the game on Thursday night with a nasty cut above his eye.

Both players will need to be assessed at Carrington before their availability to face Chelsea is determined but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be hoping at least one player will be fit as Tim Fosu-Mensah made a rare start at left-back last night.

Man Utd are certain to be without Phil Jones and Axel Tuanzebe against Chelsea on Sunday as they’ve been ruled out for the rest of the season so Solskjaer could be without four players this weekend depending on Shaw and Williams’ availability.

United didn’t appear to pick up any fresh injury concerns against Palace but the likes of Nemanja Matic, Daniel James and Fred are pushing for recalls this weekend while Sergio Romero could start in goal having featured in previous rounds of the FA Cup.