A dominant storyline heading into the League Cup semifinal between Arsenal and Chelsea centers around Blues boss Antonio Conte, and his warning shot to rival managers that persist in being critical of him and/or his players. Obviously, the remarks are mostly focused at Jose Mourinho, as Conte is currently entangled in a very ugly back and forth with the Manchester United boss that doesn’t seem to be ending. (Here’s the link to the latest on this beef)
However, there is also some bad blood between the Italian and his counterpart across the touchline Wednesday night, Arsene Wenger as well.
Today brought another media opportunity, and with it a chance for Conte to apologize and bury the hatchet. Of course, it was also an opportunity for Conte to escalate the row. The Chelsea manager did neither, and instead held status quo.
Queried by a reporter today: “Do you regret what you said [about Mourinho]?”
He responded: “I have this look of a person who regrets? I don’t think so. We both said things…I won’t forget this [what he said]. This is not a problem for the club. This is a problem between me and him. I stop.”
That said, we’ll see what Mourinho does the next time he speaks with the media. Until then, let’s take a look at who Conte might be placing in the first team for the clash at Stamford Bridge tomorrow night.
Here is our Chelsea Starting XI Prediction:
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois
Defenders: Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen
Midfielders: Cesc Fabregas, N’Golo Kante, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Victor Moses, Marcos Alonso
Forwards: Eden Hazard, Alvaro Morata
Odds: Chelsea 3/4, Draw 14/5, Arsenal 7/2
Go to this link for the starting XI prediction for Arsenal. Go here for the match preview/injury report.
Prediction: Chelsea 3, Arsenal 2
As always, feel free to post your own Chelsea or Arsenal starting XI prediction, and/or the match final score prediction in the comments section.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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