Chelsea and Arsenal renew their rivalry in tomorrow night’s League Cup semi-final, having just played a very thrilling Premier League fixture six days ago. That match, which ended in a 2-2 draw, was about as entertaining and exciting a football game as one could ever see. This Wednesday’s affair will be hard pressed to match or top that.
One storyline heading into this match centers around Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, and his warning to opposing league managers that continue to criticize him and/or his team. That’s mostly directed at Jose Mourinho, as Conte is currently in the worst row that has been seen for some time with the Manchester United boss.
However, there is plenty of tension between Conte and his counterpart in this one, Arsene Wenger as well.
As for Wenger, he’s had plenty of vitriol himself lately, but mostly for the officials.
Conte was asked today “Do you regret what you said [about Mourinho]?”
His response: “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, let’s take a look at who will be injured, who will be match fit and who is doubtful for the clash at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea star Eden Hazard missed his side’s 0-0 FA Cup draw at Norwich City as Conte didn’t want to risk his star attacker’s ankle, but the winger should be action in this one. Chelsea come into this match remarkably healthy; especially so for a team in midseason, and one that is still alive in four different competitions.
Flipping over to the other side, Laurent Koscielny is a slight doubt due to an Achilles issue, and Sead Kolasinac is also doubtful to an ankle problem. Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey are also both doubts, as they continue to recover from their hamstring problems. Nacho Monreal is out of action tomorrow night.
Odds: Chelsea 3/4, Draw 14/5, Arsenal 7/2 Starting XI predictions: Chelsea at this link, Arsenal at this link
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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