Carabao Cup: Chelsea vs Newcastle Live
Preview
One of the three Carabao Cup quarter-final matches in the Premier League will be held at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, where Chelsea will host Newcastle United, last year’s runners-up. Chelsea comfortably defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 to advance to the quarter-finals, while Newcastle United avenged their loss to current champions Manchester United with a dominant 3-0 victory.
Chelsea brought some holiday joy to their fans during the weekend’s match against Sheffield United. Mauricio Pochettino’s team aimed to overcome recent defeats to Everton and Manchester United. It took some time for the West London team to break through Sheffield United’s strong defense, but Cole Palmer finally scored in the 54th minute and set up Nicolas Jackson for an easy goal. This victory lifted Chelsea to 10th place in the standings.
Despite the possibility of dropping back into the bottom half of the table on Sunday, Chelsea is focused on their upcoming EFL Cup match. They have had the advantage of playing all three previous ties at home, defeating AFC Wimbledon, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Blackburn. In the fourth round, they secured a win over Blackburn with goals from Benoit Badiashile and Raheem Sterling. Chelsea can also take confidence from their successful history in EFL Cup quarter-final ties, having triumphed in their last four matches. Their last loss in this stage of the competition was in 2013-14 against Sunderland in extra time.
With team morale at a dangerous low following their disappointing exit from European football, Newcastle United may have approached Saturday’s match against Fulham with some concern due to the Cottagers’ strong recent attacking performances. However, after Raul Jimenez was rightfully sent off for a high challenge on Sean Longstaff, Newcastle found their rhythm. 17-year-old Lewis Miley scored his first professional goal, followed by goals from Miguel Almiron and Dan Burn. The straightforward victory over Marco Silva’s 10 men was a much-needed win for Eddie Howe’s team, who had suffered three consecutive losses.
They will now face the EFL Cup with confidence after eliminating both Manchester teams, including a 3-0 win over Manchester United in the fourth round. By avenging last season’s disappointment at Wembley, Newcastle will compete for a spot in the EFL Cup semi-finals for only the seventh time since 2000, having previously lost in seven consecutive quarter-final ties before finishing as runners-up last year. Howe’s next goal is to end Newcastle’s worrying five-game winless streak away from St James’ Park, with four of those matches resulting in defeat.
Head-to-head
Newcastle has won one out of their last three matches against Chelsea, with two games ending in a draw. In their most recent encounter in the league a few weeks ago, Newcastle secured a 4-1 victory.
Prediction
With Chelsea finding success at Stamford Bridge and Newcastle struggling on the road, it seems likely that Pochettino’s team will defeat Newcastle and prevent them from achieving success, despite Newcastle’s two impressive wins in the competition. Chelsea should be able to avoid a repeat of last month’s 4-1 defeat, taking advantage of Newcastle’s tiredness and increasing injury problems to move closer to winning the EFL Cup.
