23-year-old Chelsea man is now surely unlikely to start League Cup final after recent developments

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Chelsea are now edging closer to their biggest game of the season.

There’s only 10 days to go before rivals Chelsea and Liverpool face off in the League Cup final, which is a chance to bank a first piece of silverware this year.

The Blues prepare for their day out at Wembley Stadium by travelling to Manchester City this Saturday for a Premier League fixture.

Unless Mykhailo Mudryk produces a magical performance at the Etihad Stadium, we rate his chances of starting the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool as very unlikely.

Mudryk has massively fallen out of favour with Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino in the last few weeks. In fact, the recent developments are that he’s been named on the bench in the last five consecutive matches.

With more Blues players returning for various reasons, Mudryk’s slipped further down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.

The 23-year-old winger hasn’t started back-to-back games in the league since December.

Mykhailo Mudryk unlikely to start cup final

In our view, Mudryk’s already blown his chances of starting versus Liverpool on 25 February.

The Ukraine star can get you off your seat with raw pace and eye-catching dribbling, but there’s not yet the end product in his game to match that potential.

His return of four goals and three assists in 25 appearances this campaign is pretty moderate.

If we’re thinking about the left-winger trying to earn a start in the cup final, we can pick out three teammates that seem more likely to start on the left of attack. We reckon either Raheem Sterling or Nicolas Jackson will be on the wing against Liverpool, with Christopher Nkunku even a wildcard option.

Football Transfers recently claimed that Mudryk asked Chelsea to leave the club on loan last month. That’s the most obvious sign that the player knows his game isn’t anywhere near where it needs to be.

We’ll be intrigued to see what happens with Mudryk in 2024, baring in mind he joined in a transfer worth up to £89 million (BBC). It must be hard for his development when he’s getting plenty of cameo appearances, but he’s not been making the most of that recently.