In the second leg of the League Cup semifinal, Chelsea are going to have to figure out a way to come back against Arsenal. It’s a good thing we’ve been practicing comebacks all week!
Doing so against the
Premier League-leaders will be tougher than against either Napoli or West Ham, but these Gunners are not the Invincibles, and we beat those guys, too anyway. We do however need two goals to overturn the 3-2 deficit from a few weeks ago. A one-goal margin will only get us to extra time and possibly penalties.
Arsenal probably should’ve been well out of sight in that first leg. But they didn’t finish us off, and Alejandro Garancho kept hope alive with an unlikely brace. Let’s make it count!
Date / Time: Tuesday, February 3, 206; 20.00 GMT; 3pm EST; 1:30am IST (next day)
Venue: Emirates Stadium, N7
Referee: Peter Bankes (on pitch); Jamie Bell (VAR)
Forecast: rain
On TV: ITV1 (UK); none (USA); none (India); SuperSport Premier League, Canal+ Sport 3 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: ITVx (UK); Paramount+ (USA); FanCode (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Arsenal team news: Arsenal had an easy win 4-0 against Leeds United over the weekend, but did lose Bukayo Saka to injury. That was followed by the news that Mikel Merino needs surgery on his foot, and is likely to miss the rest of the season.
Arsenal certainly have the depth to compensate for those two big absences — and Saka may not miss too much time at all — and they did not panic in the dying moments of the transfer window as a result. In fact, the Gunners brought in no new players in January, and did not let anyone leave either.
This might be their year at long last in the league. But Cups are an entirely different proposition, and we only need to best them over 90+ minutes.
View from the enemy: The Short Fuse
Chelsea team news: Chelsea had a busy deadline day, but most of the deals had little to nothing to do with the first-team. Those that did included Tyrique George going out on loan and Mamadou Sarr getting recalled to bolster our defensive options. He’s ineligible however, and combined with a few injuries and other unavailabilities, we’re still a bit short of numbers at the moment.
Jamie Gittens picked up a hamstring injury over the weekend, joining usual suspects Levi Colwill, Roméo Lavia, Dário Essugo, and Tosin Adarabioyo on the sidelines. (Lavia has been back to training, but is far from match fit.) It’s not clear how long Gittens will be out, but it may be a while. He’s not been great and he hasn’t played much as a result, but having one less option in attack isn’t ideal — especially as Estêvão remains away from the team, on compassionate leave back in Brazil.
All that said, squad depth hasn’t quite worked to our benefit as much as we might’ve liked, and it’s been the first-choice players carrying the day most of the time. Suspect they’ll have to do so again if we are to have ourselves a good time at the Emirates.
“My players […] can play big games. They can perform in big games, and it’s definitely a big game on Tuesday. My concern is resting, as it’s another three-game week. We needed to recover as it’s going to be a really physical game on Tuesday, and then it’s about preparing the team as best I can for that game.”
-Liam Rosenior; source: Chelsea FC
Previously: The first leg defeat mans that our winless streak against Arsenal now stands at nine. Good time as any to change that!
