Chelsea travel to Anfield for a Carabao Cup fourth-round tie tomorrow evening, when Alonso will be returning to the stadium where he enjoyed plenty of success as a player.

Now the Blues manager, he will make the trip without striker Joao Pedro in his team, with the Brazilian ruled out by a thigh injury.

However, that blow could be softened by the presence in the squad of summer signing Emegha, who has returned from injury and could make his Chelsea debut against the Reds.

‘For sure it’s important that we have him available because he has special qualities,’ said Alonso in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

‘He needs to feel fully fit. He has been training for the last two weeks, ten days, in a good way that has allowed him to build a strong base of fitness.

‘Now, gradually, we want to see him and maybe tomorrow he has the chance to play.’

Alongside Emegha, another summer arrival at Chelsea, Danny Welbeck, is also available to lead the Blues’ attack. There are also other solutions, as seen at the weekend when Morgan Rogers played further forward in the striker’s role.

Those solutions, and others, are all being considered by Alonso ahead of Wednesday’s game against Liverpool and the others that lie ahead during Joao Pedro’s absence.

‘There are the strikers, but there are other players that can play in that position,’ our manager continued. ‘We need to find the right balance between the things they are good at and how they connect with the other players.

‘We tried with Morgan playing close to Cole [Palmer], and sometimes we need to be creative and try a few things to see if they are going to work well.

‘I assess all the possibilities we have and what we have been preparing during the week, and with the qualities all players have, to choose the best team for each game. That was the case for Saturday and that is the case for tomorrow.’