Two of Chelsea’s next four games are against Wolverhampton Wanderers; first, in the League Cup and then, about ten days later, in the Premier League. First away, then at home.
Given Wolves massive struggles
so far this season — just two wins in all competitions, both in the League Cup — that should be two wins in the bag for us. Of course, we know that’s not how it works, especially given our frustrating habit of playing up or down to the level of the opposition.
Upsets have been few and far between in this year’s Carabao Cup competition — it’s going to be an almost entirely Premier League field in the quarterfinals — so let’s hope that pattern holds.
Date / Time: Wednesday, October 24, 2025, 19.45 GMT; 3:45pm EDT; 1:15am IST (next day)
Venue: Molineux, Wolverhampton, England
Referee: Jarred Gillett (on pitch; no VAR because there were some teams in this Round of 16 that do not have the technology at their stadiums)
Forecast: Rainy day, cold night
On TV: Sky Sports (UK); none (USA); none (India); Startimes Sports Life (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK); Paramount+ (USA); FanCode (India); DStv Now, SuperSport GOtv (NGA)
Wolves team news: It’s been a shocking start to the campaign for Wolves after finishing comfortably clear of relegation last time out, though their current results do echo their poor start to last season as well. Wolves collected zero wins and just three points from their first ten league games last year; they currently have two points from nine. However, in the League Cup, they did eliminate Premier League opposition twice now, West Ham in the second round and Everton in the third. The Magic of the Cup!
The biggest problem for Wolves has been their leaky defense, with 19 conceded in the league (9 games) and 21 in all competitions (11 games) — though they did keep a clean sheet against Everton in the previous round. That said, their attack hasn’t exactly been a bright spot either, following the departure of Matheus Cunha to Manchester United in the summer.
Wolves do have a clean slate as far as injuries are concerned. Like Chelsea, they are expected to rotate heavily.
Chelsea team news: The big news here is that Liam Delap is set to make his return from injury. He’s not quite ready for a full 90, but he should be able to log a few minutes off the bench at least. Delap has been out since the final days of August. His injury prompted a bit of transfer deadline day panic, which eventually saw us recall Marc Guiu from Sunderland just a couple weeks after sending him there. Guiu has hardly featured, which does make you wonder what was even the point.
Delap’s return should be a welcome boost to what’s been a frustratingly ineffective attack at times for us this season — despite plenty of good and exciting options, at least on paper, available to us. That was very much the case in the previous round of this competition, for example, when we just got by third division Lincoln City, 2-1.
In his pre-match press conference, Enzo Maresca hinted at almost a full rotation for his side, with the likes of Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernández, and João Pedro most certainly getting rested and perhaps a few fresh faces from the Academy getting called upon. Teenagers Reggie Walsh and Ryan Kavuma-McQueen were on the bench against Ajax last midweek, with the former since signing his first professional contract upon turning 17 as well.
Previously: Chelsea did the double over Wolves last season to the tune of a 9-3 combined scoreline, but before that, we had managed to lose three straight to them. The last time we met in this competition was in the third round in 2012-13: the Champions of Europe winning 6-0 at the Bridge.
