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Fans have reacted to Chelsea starting striker Christoper Nkunku from the bench in their Carabao Cup final with Liverpool on Sunday (February 25).
The Blues are coming off a 1-1 Premier League draw at Manchester City last weekend. However, they are 11th in the standings after 25 games, trailing fourth-placed Aston Villa (52) with a game in hand.
Nkunku - back from a long injury layoff - has scored twice in nine games across competitions for the Blues. However, Pochettino has opted to use an unchanged XI that drew at the Etihad.
Fans, though, are far from happy with a seemingly fit Nkunku starting on the bench, instead of Nicolas Jackson, in one of the Blues' most important games of the season. One tweeted:
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"Nkunku on the bench. This coach is a JOKE."
Another chimed in:
"Nkunku should be in that lineup, not Jackson. Poch, a loss here today is on you."
Here are some of the top reactions on X:
The Blues lost 4-1 to Jurgen Klopp's side in the league at Anfield. But with the Reds missing a plethora of first-team stars like Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker, Pochettino's side have a golden opportunity to win their first title of the season.
What is Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino's record against Jurgen Klopp?
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has a rather underwhelming record against Jurgen Klopp.
Ahead of the 2022 Carabao Cup final rematch, in 13 combined games with Tottenham Hotspur and the Blues, the Argentine boss has triumphed just once. That win was a 4-1 league triumph with Spurs in the 2017-18 season at the Tottenham Stadium in London.
The Argentine has used eight different formations across two different sides against Klopp but has come up short seven times. That includes five losses in his last six meetings across competitions with the German.
The only exception in this sequence is a 1-1 league draw at home on the opening day of the ongoing season, which was also his debut competitive outing at the Stamford Bridge dugout.
