Welcome to the second leg of the League Cup semifinal!
Chelsea trail by one from the first leg, 3-2, so we need to do something we haven’t done in nearly half a decade, beat Arsenal. There’s no away goals rule: it’s extra-time and penalties if we’re tied on aggregate after 90 minutes. To the winner, a trip to Wembley against (probably) Manchester City in the final. To the loser, nothing.
Liam Rosenior has had a brainwave and we’re going with something different, at least based on the starting XI. We’ll see how it all shakes out. No Reece James in the squad (“being rested”) or Pedro Neto (fitness/workload concerns). Estevao’s back from Brazil and on the bench, as is 16-year-old Academy midfielder Charlie Holland.
Arsenal starting XI:
Kepa | Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Rice, Zubimendi, Eze, Madueke, Martinelli, Gyokeres
Substitutes from: Raya, Mosquera, White, Jesus, Norgaard, Trossard, Havertz, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly
Chelsea starting lineup (3-5-2/5-3-2?):
Sanchez | Hato, Chalobah, Fofana | Cucurella, Enzo (c), Santos, Caicedo, Gusto | Joao Pedro, Delap
Substitutes from: Sharman-Lowe, Acheampong, Badiashile, Holland, Palmer, Estevao, Garnacho, Guiu, Mheuka
Date / Time: Tuesday, February 3, 206; 20.00 GMT; 3pm EST; 1:30am IST (next day)
Venue: Emirates Stadium, N7
Referee: Peter Bankes (on pitch); Jamie Bell (VAR)
On TV: ITV1 (UK); none (USA); none (India); SuperSport Premier League, Canal+ Sport 3 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: ITVx (UK); Paramount+ (USA); FanCode (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!
