Chelsea kick off their Capital One Cup journey this Wednesday evening when they host Championship side Bolton to the Bridge.
Venue: Stamford Bridge Date: Wednesday, 24th September Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Bolton come to the Bridge on Wednesday night as Chelsea get underway in their first domestic cup of the season, in the third round of the League Cup.
Chelsea last won the competition in 2007 after beating Arsenal in the final, but failed to retain the trophy after losing by the same scoreline to Spurs the following season.
Bolton have never won the English League cup but have been runners up on two occasions.
The Blues beat Arsenal as they made their way to last year’s quarter final stage before being beaten away to Sunderland in a thrilling game that came down to extra time.
Chelsea are expected to make an array of changes to their starting lineup with Courtois, Terry, Hazard and Costa among the names set for a rest.
Petr Cech may get a chance to prove himself in the Chelsea net for the first time this season while Remy may make his first start for the Blues.
Chelsea fans may even get a first look at Kurt Zouma who is a candidate to line up in the defence for Mournho’s side.
It will also be a good opportunity for Mourinho to get a look at his younger talent, possibly in the shapes of Lewis Baker and Nathan Aké.
The remainder of the lineup is anyone’s guess, as is so often the case in the early stages of this competition, but Mourinho will surely want to keep as many first team players as possible fresh for their Premier League game against Aston Villa this weekend.
Bolton currently sit one place above the relegation zone in the Championship however so Blues fans will be expecting a comfortable victory no matter which players step out on the pitch tomorrow evening.
However, as we all know, cup football can never truly be predicted and Bolton may welcome the distraction from their poor start to the League season and look to stun Chelsea.
Chelsea will want to get back to winning ways having drawn their previous two games over the last week or so.
Chelsea v Bolton – Predicted lineup:
Cech, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Ivanovic, Luis; Mikel, Ake; Salah, Baker, Schurrle; Remy
Prediction: Chelsea 4-0 Bolton
