Chelsea returned to winning ways against Fulham, after a mini-slump in the previous game-week. This mid-week Chelsea begin their Capital One Cup campaign, the first ever trophy won by “The Happy One” during his first spell at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea’s first test will be against Swindon Town FC, who pulled off a mini-upset when they beat Queens Park Rangers to make way to the third round of the League Cup.
DATE & TIME: September 24, 2013 at 14:45 EDT; September 24, 2013 at 18:45 GMT; September 24, 2013 at 19:45 BST; September 24, 2013 at 19:45 WAT; September 24, 2013 at 20:45 CAT; September 24, 2013 at 21:45 EAT; September 25, 2013 at 00:15 IST.
VENUE: Country Ground, Swindon, United Kingdom.
TV/STREAMING NEWS: The match is televised live on Setanta Sports Australia in Australia, ESPN Brasil in Brazil, Al Jazeera Sport HD6 in Egypt, beIN Sport Max 7 in France, sportdigital in Germany, Ten Action in India, Al Jazeera Sport HD6 in UAE, Sky Sports 2/HD in UK and beIN Sport Play in USA. Chelsea TV will stream the game live.
CHELSEA FC SQUAD NEWS: Mourinho has the full squad at his disposal with no injury concerns. The manager has already more or less given an idea of his starting line-up, emphasizing on rotation of the players. Juan Mata & David Luiz are expected to start after their exclusions from the squad against Fulham. Mark Schwarzer will make his debut as Petr Cech gets a well-deserved rest. Steve Holland suggested a youngster or two might get a look in.
Predicted Starting XI: Schwarzer, Azpilicueta, Kalas, Luiz, Bertrand, Essien, van Ginkel, de Bruyne, Mata, Willian, Torres.
SWINDON TOWN FC SQUAD NEWS: The League One side, managed by Mark Cooper could be without Ryan Mason and Ryan Harley, who have injury concerns. Nathan Byrne is suspended.
Predicted Starting XI: Foderingham, Thomson, Hall, Ward, McEveley, Ajose, Luongo, Kasim, Pritchard, N’Guessan, Ranger.
REFEREE: Michael Oliver.
TACTICAL OVERVIEW: Swindon Town, who are coming off a hard-fought win over Bristol City on Saturday, made an impressive run in the League Cup last season. In spite of being placed in the 11th position on the Football League One standings, Swindon Town are still unbeaten at their home in this season. Their top scorer Nile Ranger is a Spurs loanee. All eyes, however will be on the Chelsea squad, as the players who haven’t got regular game time will stake a claim to the starting line up in the up-coming bigger matches. The performances of Juan Mata & David Luiz, who were surprisingly dropped by Jose Mourinho from the match-day squad against Fulham, will be under the scrutiny by both fans and media alike.
IN A NUTSHELL: Chelsea are expected to make 11 potential changes to their starting line-up from the last match-day. However, the Blues should not find it difficult to see of Swindon Town & qualify for the next round of Capital One Cup, the draw for which will be held tomorrow.
