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Thomas Tuchel was adamant Kai Havertz has done enough to start ahead of Romelu Lukaku in the EFL Cup final on Sunday, and suggested he might be “crazy enough” to make a surprise Chelsea selection elsewhere.

The Blues will travel to Wembley to face Liverpool on Sunday. The EFL Cup is up for grabs, and picking a winner based on this season’s results looks incredibly difficult.

Both of their Premier League clashes have ended in draws, and the margins are expected to be razor thin once again on Sunday.

Now, speaking in his Friday press conference (via Football London), Tuchel revealed his squad has a clean bill of health besides Ben Chilwell. That means Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech are in contention despite both hobbling off against Lille on Tuesday.

“We had training today with everyone on the pitch except for Ben Chilwell, which is brilliant news,” said Tuchel. “This is pretty much it. Both [Kovacic and Ziyech] ok since today.

“Everybody joined team training from the first to the last minute. No reactions but positive reactions. I hope it stays like this. We have another training session tomorrow and then we have Sunday.”

The clean bill of health also means wing-back Reece James could return to action against the Reds. James has been sidelined since late December with a hamstring injury and throwing him straight into the cup final for his first match back could be a gamble.

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Nevertheless, Tuchel talked up James’ displays in training and hinted he might be “crazy enough” to hand him a start.

“He looked brilliant in the last two training sessions,” added Tuchel. “Let’s wait another session and let’s see if I’m crazy enough to put him on the pitch.”

Penalty-saving specialist Kepa Arrizabalaga may yet be required if the contest goes all the way to a shoot-out.

When asked if Tuchel is tempted to start with Kepa, the German hinted it’ll be Edouard Mendy once again after pointing to the Senegalese coming straight back in f0r the Club World Cup final.

“First of all I will not tell you,” said Tuchel. “I will take the decision late.

“Kepa played in the Club World Cup semi-final and brought us to the final but then we took the decision to go with Edou for the final, who was back from the African Cup of Nations.

“The last decision we will take after training as always. Kepa did fantastic in the period that we had to be without Edou, so it’s an uncomfortable and very comfortable situation to be in.”

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Tuchel hints who’ll start up front

The burning selection dilemma revolves around who will start up front.

Romelu Lukaku has struggled in recent weeks, with his seven touches against Crystal Palace last week further showcasing his struggles to adapt to Tuchel’s system.

In contrast, Kai Havertz looked lively in a goalscoring display when favoured against Lille.

When asked how Lukaku is doing after that snub, Tuchel said: “He played a lot of matches. We had a similar situation with Jorginho, one of our captains, because we feel him a little mentally tired. The focus on Romelu that I understand but it’s a similar situation as Jorginho.

“The decisions are made clear and the players accept. Once you play for Chelsea, you accept the team goes first and that’s why there are no hard feelings, not from Romelu or from me.”

Tuchel was then directly asked if Havertz has done enough to start. His answer was perhaps the clearest indication that the young German will get the nod on Sunday despite refusing to outright confirm his selection.

“A clear yes,” said Tuchel. “Does this mean he has to start and will start, no. We will decide later. We have to decide what characters we want to fill the positions but he has done enough in the last few weeks. Yes.”

READ MORE: Thriving ex-Chelsea striker ‘wants to return’, as Inter align thinking with Lukaku

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