Brentford to start knocking on European door
Brentford and Chelsea will meet in an all-London affair for a place in the semis of the EFL Cup on Wednesday evening. The Bees have had their last two fixtures postponed because of Covid cases, whilst the Blues' pleas for rearrangements have fallen on deaf ears, with results also starting to suffer. Read our preview here:
Waiting for Ghoddos
Thomas Frank has been able to rotate his squad sensibly for their cup forays thus far this season, and it will be interesting to see whether he sticks with some of his fringe players in light of the lack of competitive action recently. His hand is likely to be forced with five certainties not to be donning red and white on Wednesday, including goalkeeper David Raya and centre backs Zanka and Kristoffer Ajer. Ivan Toney has largely sat out the EFL Cup, with both Marcus Forss and Yoane Wissa getting gametime. Expect to see Toney participate in some part, whilst it will be another chance for Iranian international Saman Ghoddos to impress in between the lines. His set piece mastery means the opposition will be extremely reluctant to give away anything around their own penalty area.
Still Barking up the wrong tree
The list of absentees as alluded to earlier could be prohibitive for Thomas Tuchel, who will no doubt have wished for this game, perfectly understandably, to be called off as well. Timo Werner, Romelu Lukaku, Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Ben Chilwell are all Covid cases, whilst a further seven players are huge doubts. Saúl Ñíguez has yet to get going in a blue shirt whilst on loan from Atlético Madrid, but could be in the thick of it on Wednesday. Another figure who hasn't reached up to earlier billing is Ross Barkley. The former Everton midfielder has found it extremely difficult to claim a regular place at Stamford Bridge on a bloated roster, but again, should start on Wednesday. As long as he is on the front foot, he can be an asset.
Christmas Bee-light
Were all personnel available to both teams, it would be a fascinating match. It still will be on Wednesday, but for different reasons, and the tangible downturn in Chelsea's output of late should tip the balance away from them. betway have odds of 2.90 for Brentford to qualify.
