Chelsea welcome Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur to Stamford Bridge in the first leg of their semi-final in 2021-22 Carabao Cup.
Both teams are meeting in this competition for the third consecutive season and for the second time in three seasons specifically at this stage, meaning that everything is at stake to seize a first leg advantage ahead of next week’s second leg.
Team News
Andreas Christensen is set to be in contention for Chelsea if he passes a late fitness test after recovering from a back injury.
Romelu Lukaku (disciplinary) is also expected to return after missing Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw against Liverpool, following a controversial interview with Sky Italia.
Timo Werner (fitness) could feature but Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James (both hamstring), Edouard Mendy (international duty), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (knock) and Ben Chilwell (knee) remain absent.
Tottenham have no fresh injury concerns to report as Cristian Romero (thigh), Ryan Sessegnon (muscle) and Steven Bergwijn (calf) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea are unbeaten in eight of 11 previous Carabao Cup meetings against Tottenham excluding penalty shootouts (W5, D3, L3).
- Tottenham are winless in five previous Carabao Cup away trips against Chelsea (D1, L4) at Stamford Bridge.
- Chelsea have lost just once against Spurs in their last 37 clashes at Stamford Bridge in all competitions.
- Only one of Chelsea’s four goals in this competition this season has been scored before half time – Kai Havertz in a 1-1 draw against Southampton in Fourth Round.
- Two of Spurs’ five goals in this competition this season have been scored by Lucas Moura.
Prediction
Having made a slow start in Sunday’s draw against Liverpool with sloppy errors in defence and outplayed in movement, Chelsea need to show more urgency and defensive ability if they’re to stand any chance of stopping an in-form Tottenham team.
Spurs though haven’t exactly found any form away from home this season but will be eager for a stronger performance here, following Saturday’s lacklustre win at Watford because they were dominant in attack yet were extremely wasteful of their chances until got lucky in the final minute.
Improvement is therefore needed from both teams here so I am going for a draw here.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Tottenham
Result: Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham