- Chelsea host Arsenal in the first leg of the Carabao Cup with the return leg to be played on the 24th January
- VAR (Video Assistant Referee) will be used in both legs of this tie
- Ross Barkley could make his debut as Antonio Conte will field a strong team
- READ MORE: Chelsea youngster joins Sunderland on loan
The start of this mouth-watering trilogy of games for Chelsea against Arsenal began with the thrilling 2-2 league draw at the Emirates Stadium.
Now it’s round two and the hopes of either team landing a knockout blow in this Carabao Cup tie is on the line.
Stamford Bridge is the venue for the first leg, a place that has haunted Arsenal in recent years. From the 6-0 thrashing to the controversial decisions the Gunners have suffered, our opposition don’t like this stadium.
In the last six meetings at our home, Chelsea have won five and drawn once, the goalless draw between the two sides earlier this season.
It was expected that both teams would cruise their FA Cup ties but both suffered surprise setbacks. Chelsea hit a blank in drawing 0-0 to Norwich at Carrow Road whilst Arsenal were humiliated in a 4-2 away defeat to Nottingham Forest.
PhysioRoom reports that Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny and Aaron Ramsey are slight doubts in the build up to this game. Oliver Giroud, Nacho Monreal and Saed Kolisanac are still out.
Chelsea is relatively injury free apart from Eden Hazard having calf problems but the Belgian could still feature on Wednesday night.
Whether Hazard starts or not, Antonio Conte is expected to field a high quality team due to the opposition we’re up against.
This is how TalkChelsea predict the Blues will line-up against Arsenal:
