Chelsea will aim to progress to the Carabao Cup semi-finals when they take on Brentford at the Brentford Community Stadium today.
The Blues are suffering an ever-worsening coronavirus outbreak within their squad, giving Brentford extra hope of claiming a major scalp in this West London derby.
Thomas Tuchel will be missing several players owing to positive coronavirus tests, with Ben Chilwell, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku missing. At the same time, confusion reigns supreme over Kai Havertz’s availability but Jorginho is set to return after testing negative for COVID-19.
However, Chelsea’s fortunes have taken a hit of late, as they have won only one of their most recent five matches, with Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers holding the west Londoners to stalemates in the past week.
Brentford and Chelsea have already locked horns once this season, with the Blues claiming a hard-fought 1-0 win, courtesy of a goal by Ben Chilwell.
Thomas Frank’s men are the leading scorers in the EFL Cup this term with 12 from their three outings, thanks largely to a 7-0 drubbing of Oldham Athletic in the third round.
Brentford have only ever scored more League Cup goals in a single campaign once in their history – 15 in 1991-92 – with Forest Green Rovers and Stoke City having also been dispatched during a relatively kind route to the quarter-finals.
