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Chelsea will aim to book their places in the EFL Cup semi-finals when they travel to west London rivals Brentford today evening.
The Blues have suffered a dip in form of late, having won just once in their last five games across all competitions. They once again dropped points in the Premier League on Sunday, with Wolves holding them to a 0-0 draw at Molineux to leave Thomas Tuchel’s side six points adrift of league leaders Manchester City.
Thomas Tuchel will be a bit worried about how things have panned out in recent weeks, making him desperate to get out of the rut with an EFL Cup win over Brentford in midweek.
Chelsea’s first-team squad has been hit severely by a Covid-19 outbreak and they were unsuccessful in postponing their game at Wolves on Sunday. Things went from bad to worse at Molineux when Trevoh Chalobah and Hakim Ziyech were forced off with injuries.
Due to a number of positive Covid-19 cases and a few injury problems, Thomas Tuchel has been forced to involve some of the academy players in the first-team training. Close to eight youngsters were pictured training on Monday, while Jorginho, who missed the trip to Wolves because of an inconclusive test, was able to join the group.
Goalkeeper
Kepa Arrizabalaga is Chelsea’s cup goalkeeper and is widely expected to start against Brentford.
Defence
Thomas Tuchel is expected to ring some changes to his backline. Malang Sarr should get the nod to start in the Chelsea lineup, giving veteran defender Thiago Silva a much-needed breather. Antonio Rudiger will retain his spot from the draw with Wolves. Highly-rated academy kid Xavier Mbuyamba could be handed a start on Wednesday, with the teenager replacing Cesar Azpilicueta.
Dion Rankine could replace fellow academy graduate Reece James at right wing-back. Marcos Alonso, meanwhile, should retain his spot at left wing-back.
Midfield
Jorginho is likely to return to the Chelsea lineup, having missed the weekend’s trip to Wolves. Saul Niguez had a better outing than his previous displays as he completed 45 minutes against Wolves after replacing Chalobah at half-time. The Spaniard is in for a rare start in today’s EFL Cup fixture against Brentford.
Attack
Ross Barkley hasn’t played much this season but with Tuchel set to rotate his squad, the midfielder might get a chance to impress. Academy kid Bryan Fiabema has impressed with the U-23s this term, bagging eight goals in 15 appearances. The teenager could partner Barkley behind the main striker.
With Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner testing positive for Covid-19 last week, Christian Pulisic is set to continue leading the Chelsea lineup.
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