2 weeks Ago
Chelsea have suffered an availability blow in the form of Ben Chilwell ahead of Wednesday night's trip to Newcastle United in the EFL Cup . The out-of-favour defender's only competitive appearance for the Blues so far this season arrived during the five-goal thrashing of League Two Barrow in the third round on September 24. Fighting to earn a place in Enzo Maresca 's first-team plans, Chilwell has also been battling with illness over the past week, meaning that he is a doubt for the contest in the North-East on Wednesday.
The Blues are set to make a host of alterations to their XI from the 2-1 success over Newcastle on Sunday, so expect goalscorers Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson to drop out of the side. Injury-hampered Reece James played his first full 90 minutes of the campaign last time out, with the right-back unlikely to feature from the start in this one. Many of Chelsea's stars from the opening gameweeks of their Conference League adventure are preparing to play a prominent role on Tyneside this midweek, including Christopher Nkunku , who scored a hat-trick last month in the EFL Cup.
Maresca opted for a back three during the continental success at Panathinaikos last Thursday but is set to respect the talents of Newcastle by deploying a four-man backline at St James' Park, with Axel Disasi and Euro 2024 winner Marc Cucurella candidates for the full-back roles. Chelsea possible starting lineup: Jorgensen; Disasi, Badiashile, Adayabiyo, Cucurella; Fernandez, Dewsbury-Hall, Sancho, Felix, Mudryk; Nkunku > Click here to see how Newcastle could line up for this match.
