Chelsea visit Middlesbrough on Tuesday night for the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie.
The Blues seemed destined to exit the competition in the last eight before an erroneous Kieran Tripper header allowed Mykhailo Mudryk to equalise in stoppage time before Mauricio Pochettino’s side downed Newcastle on penalties.
Middlesbrough, meanwhile, have enjoyed a fairly tame route into the semi-finals. Michael Carrick’s men have beaten Huddersfield, Exeter, Bradford and Port Vale to set up this tie.
Chelsea made light work of middling Championship opposition in the FA Cup on Saturday as they put four past a slumping Preston. Boro, who sit 12th in the second tier, were cruelly denied a replay at Villa Park by Matty Cash’s late deflected winner.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.
Middlesbrough vs Chelsea H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
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SKY GO Extra, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football, Sky Ultra HD |
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It’s not just Europe’s elite that have been dealing with injury crises this season. Middlesbrough have an injury list comparable to Chelsea‘s ahead of Tuesday’s semi-final.
Seny Dieng, Paddy McNair, Matt Crooks, Marcus Forss, Lewis O’Brien and Emmanuel Latte Lath are all doubts for this one. Hayden Hackney picked up a groin injury in Saturday’s defeat to Villa and could also miss out.
Tommy Smith and Darragh Lenihan are both out for the remainder of the season with Achilles injuries.
Middlesbrough predicted lineup vs Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Glover; Van den Berg, Clarke, Fry, Bangura; Howson, Barlaser; Jones, Crooks, Latte Lath; Coburn.
Christopher Nkunku missed Saturday’s victory over Preston with a hip injury and is unlikely to start in midweek. His issue, however, isn’t believed to be major.
Thus, Cole Palmer should retain his place in the number 10 position, while captain Conor Gallagher is expected to come back into midfield, potentially replacing Moises Caicedo.
Pochettino isn’t expected to welcome back any injured stars in midweek. As a result, Carney Chukwuemeka, Marc Cucurella, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia, Lesley Ugochukwu and Trevoh Chalaboh will all miss out.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Middlesbrough (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Silva, Colwill; Gallagher, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Sterling; Broja.
Boro were comfortably second best at home to Aston Villa at the weekend, with injuries clearly inhibiting the pre-season play-off hopefuls.
The hosts aren’t in a slump quite like Preston, who Chelsea put to the sword on Saturday, and they should make life tricky for the Blues at times on Tuesday night. The Riverside will undoubtedly embolden Carrick’s men, but Poch’s side head into the cup tie in good spirits.
Chelsea have won four of their last five and they should get the job done pretty comfortably to all but seal their progression into the final.
Prediction: Middlesbrough 0-2 Chelsea
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90Mins
