Chelsea FC will be looking to start afresh after their bitter defeat to Jurgen Klopps’ Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.Chelsea coach Frank Lampard will want to win the tie of EFL Cup third round and progress in the next round comfortably. With little break between consecutive matches, the Blues coach is naturally concerned over his boys’ fitness.
“I’ll use this game primarily for the first-team squad to get there. With respect to Barnsley and respect for the competition, it’s a huge night for us for the fitness of our team,” said Lampard.
The winner of this match will progress to the fourth round where the winning team will meet one of Leyton Orient or Tottenham Hotspur.
Since the 2007 FA Cup campaign, both Barnsley and Chelsea have not met each other. On that occasion, Barnsley famously defeated the Blues 1-0 and progressed to the semi-final.
WHEN & WHERE?
Date: Thursday, 23rd September
Time: 6:45 pm GMT
Venue: Stamford Bridge
TEAM NEWS
New-comer, Thiago Silva has a strong possibility to feature in this match against Barnsley. Reports say that the Brazilian defender is fit to play the match and it will probably be his debut match for Chelsea at the age of 36.
Moroccan attacker, Hakim Ziyech, who signed for the Blues this summer from Ajax, is still suffering from his knee injury for four weeks and it has been almost eight weeks that Christian Pulisic hasbeen speculated to start off any match for Chelsea. The American picked up a hamstring injury during FA Cup final against Arsenal. Another notable name is former Leicester man, Ben Chilwell who hasn’t yet kicked a ball since he suffered a setback due to injury.
These are the players who will not feature along with Andreas Christensen. He will be unavailable as well after receiving a red card against Liverpool this Sunday. Although yellow cards are specific to competitions but the red cards aren’t. So he will not be in the team. It is also unclear whether Kepa will feature or not due to his recent below average performances.
