Xabi Alonso has made a pretty good start to life as Chelsea manager, winning his first three games across all competitions. But that early momentum took a hit over the weekend when it ran into the brick wall of the defending Premier League champions.
In the wake of that defeat, Alonso emphasized the notion that this was just one defeat and though it hurts (and it should hurt), we must react to it in a positive way, learn from it what we need to learn, and then resume our previous trajectory. There
will always be bumps in the road; we must keep moving forward.
And we don’t even have to wait too long to get back to winning ways: Leeds United are in town for the third round of the League Cup. Let’s send them back home unhappy.
“We have talked, we have shared our feelings, our sensations in the game and we have wrapped it for the future and the future is tomorrow. It’s Leeds and that’s the main focus at the moment.”
-Xabi Alonso; source: Football.London
Date / Time: Wednesday, September 9, 2026, 20.00 BST; 3pm EDT; 12:30am IST (next day)
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Jarred Gillett (on pitch; no VAR)
Forecast: Mild but overcast
On TV: Sky Sports Main Event (UK); none (USA); none (India); Startimes World Football (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK); Paramount+ (USA); FanCode (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Chelsea team news: We have had a few injury concerns in this early part of the season, and unfortunately those are all continuing with Moisés Caicedo, Jordan Henderson, Marco Palestra. and Emmanuel Emegha all set to miss out. All four are effectively day-to-day, but they’ve been day-to-day for long enough now for those to turn into days-to-days if not weeks-to-weeks. And that’s certainly not ideal, especially in midfield, where Alonso has tried to make do with some right backs instead — with varying success.
The makeshift nature of our midfield is perhaps a primary reason for Alonso to keep the forward and defensive lines fairly consistent in all his games thus far, with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, and Maxence Lacroix starting all and nine other players making appearances in all four — despite the relatively packed early fixture list, which won’t be a feature for much of the season going forward thanks to our lack of European football.
Might this game offer a chance for a bit more rotation? Estêvão, Valentín Barco, and Danny Welbeck are sure to start, but we’ve not seen the likes of Jamie Gittens or Geovany Quenda or homegrown unit Reggie Watson much, if at all. Young Mike Penders should be back in goal as well.
Leeds United team news: Leeds flirted with relegation for a while last season, but a strong second half to the campaign (just five defeats after November) saw them finish comfortably in midtable. They’ve begun the new season in similar vein, and have yet to lose a game in any competition (two wins, two draws).
Big-money summer signings James Trafford and Tarik Muharemović have settled in quickly at goalkeeper and center back, respectively, and have been key to their strong play at the back with just two goals conceded altogether. Joe Rodon’s absence due to a hamstring issue could weaken their defensive options however. Winger Dan James could also miss out due to his latest knock.
Head coach Daniel Farke is expected to rotate, but probably will do so within reason of his overall ambitions.
“I’m trying to win [the Carabao Cup]. That’s the quickest way to Europe and to some glory. But of course, the Premier League always will have the priority and to make sure that we are as successful as possible there, especially to reach our first goal, to establish ourselves on this level.
“We travel in order to go through to the next round without doing anything stupid at this stage of the campaign, of course you also have to rotate a bit more and then integrate a few new players. It’s also important, but we want to be at our best and to go through to the next round.”
-Daniel Farke; source: Yorkshire Evening Post
Previously: We managed just one point against the Whites last season, but we did beat them in the FA Cup semifinal, 1-0.
