Preview
Chelsea will begin the defence of the Capital One Cup on Wednesday evening against Walsall at the Bescot Stadium in the 3rd round.
Jose Mourinho and his side will be hoping to make it 3 wins from 3 after our wins over Maccabi Tel Aviv (4-0) and Arsenal (2-0) at Stamford Bridge last week. The side will now be hoping to kick on for the rest of the season and achieve the heights of last campaign where we won the Premier League and Capital One Cup.
Despite Walsall’s good start to the season, Chelsea are clear favourites and are expected to win the match fairly comfortably. Mourinho is expected to rotate the squad slightly tomorrow and it will be a good chance for the players coming in who have featured little if at all this season.
However he will cautious about rotating too much as last season we suffered a cup defeat to a fellow league 1 side of Walsall’s, Bradford. They unfortunately beat Chelsea 4-2 at Stamford Bridge.
Match details
Wednesday, 23rd September, 7:45 PM (UK Time) at Bescot Stadium.
Recent form and previous meetings
Walsall have got off to a good start to the season, they currently sit 2nd in League 1. In their last 5 games they have won 2, drawn 1 and also lost 2. Walsall have had to beat both Nottingham Forest and Brighton to get to the 3rd round.
The current holders of the cup have won 3 and lost 2 of their last 5 games in all competitions. As Chelsea are competing in a European competition we don’t have to enter the cup until the 3rd round.
The two clubs have played 11 matches against each other in all competitions in their entire history, this has seen Chelsea win 9 of them, 1 draw and just the 1 win for Walsall.
5 of those games have been away from home for Chelsea and we have had great results on the road against the Saddlers, winning 4 and drawing 1.
Team news
Diego Costa will definitely miss tomorrow’s game. Earlier today the FA handed him a three match suspension for violent conduct shown towards Laurent Koscielny. Mourinho has confirmed there are no new injury concerns going into the game therefore Willian and Courtois are the only players un-fit to play. Mourinho also confirmed both John Terry and Radamel Falcao are certain starters. The Portuguese also said he will field a competitive side as Walsall deserve respect from Chelsea but players who have featured little this season will also play.
Walsall’s Isaiah Osbourne is a doubt for them as he currently has a knee injury.
Your predictions
https://twitter.com/MaestroMourinho/status/646422759480893440
@cfcnewsapp From my hindsight, can't see Walsall having a sniff of action at the Bank' Stadium. Will go for 4-1 victory for CFC
— Muftawu Nabila Abdulai (@Muftawu_Nabila) September 22, 2015
https://twitter.com/EIectricEden/status/646423738439847936
@CFCNewsApp – 2:0 Chels!
— R (@RBWM1993) September 22, 2015
