Chelsea face an uphill task against Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of their 2023-24 Carabao Cup semi-final.
Trailing 1-0 on aggregate from the first leg, Chelsea know that only victory by a two-goal margin would see them advance to the Final, but a win by an one-goal margin would see the tie go to penalties.
Middlesbrough meanwhile know that victory or draw would be enough to send them to the final 20 years on from their sole title triumph in this competition, although defeat by an one-goal margin would see the tie settled on penalties.
Team News
Chelsea have no fresh injury concerns to report following their winter break after beating Fulham in their last outing.
Cesare Casadei is cup-tied after he featured in the competition whilst on loan at Leicester.
Marc Cucurella (ankle), Malo Gusto (unspecified), Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James, Lesley Ugochukwu (both hamstring), Wesley Fofana (ACL), Romeo Lavia (knock), Robert Sanchez (knee), Nicolas Jackson (international) and Christopher Nkunku (hip) remain ruled out.
Middlesbrough could be without Isaiah Jones after he suffered a hamstring injury during their 1-1 draw at home to Rotherham in the Championship.
Jonny Howson faces a late fitness test after he missed last weekend’s game with a knock.
Finn Azaz and Luke Ayling are both cup-tied and will consequently sit out this match.
Seny Dieng, Riley McGree and Samuel Silvera (international duty), Anfernee Dijksteel (foot/ankle) and Matthew Hoppe (knock) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Chelsea host Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday 23 January at 8pm GMT, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Chelsea have won two of their four previous meetings against Middlesbrough in this competition (W2, L2).
- Middlesbrough lost their only previous visit to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in this competition by a 3-2 result in October 1970 (L1).
- Three of Chelsea’s four previous meetings against Middlesbrough in this competition were settled by an one-goal margin, except for a 2-0 win for the Blues in the 1997-98 Final at Wembley.
- All six of Chelsea’s goals at home in this season’s competition were scored by different players (Noni Madueke, Enzo Fernandez, Nicolas Jackson, Benoit Badiashile, Raheem Sterling and Mykhailo Mudryk).
- Morgan Rogers has scored in each of Boro’s last four away ties in this season’s competition (W4).
Prediction
Having had a shorter winter break than most teams, Chelsea hopefully have worked on their end product because that aspect of their play was their weakest element in a dominant first leg – which Boro deservedly punished with a clinical winner.
If they haven’t then I do feel for Chelsea fans because this could be another hard slog like their last two matches, whilst it is imperative that they score first to put this tie firmly in the balance from which they will be expected to kick on and win.
Michael Carrick’s Boro however will be the sharper team coming into this game because they had no winter break, although they will be motivated to go and complete the job in front of a sell-out away crowd especially after a frustrating draw against Rotherham.
Boro also have a habit of proving difficult for top-flight opposition in recent seasons across both domestic cup competitions – aside from Brighton in last season’s FA Cup, so I do expect more of the same robustiness even if Jones doesn’t feature.
Both teams though were defensively resilient in the first leg but with Ben Chilwell and Noni Madueke back in the team, you just feel that Chelsea might edge this if they can sort out their finishing otherwise Boro might snatch a spot at Wembley by virtue of aggregate score and if need penalties.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Middlesbrough
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