By John Dobbo , via Wikimedia CommonsChelsea FC are heading into a League Cup quarterfinal match against Derby County with a strong team, per manager Jose Mourinho.
"‘Derby is the next match, and the next match is the Capital One Cup so the next match is the most important match. At this moment we don’t speak about any other competition, we just speak about the Capital One Cup. It is a difficult opponent and we have to go with a strong side.- Jose Mourinho, ChelseaFC.com"
The Blues have had bad luck with the latter stages of the League Cup as of late, falling to Sunderland last year and Swansea 2 seasons ago. The Blues usually get a favorable draw, but end up playing some uninspiring football and being knocked out by a side gunning for a Premier League scalp.
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This season Chelsea are again the favorites on paper, but Derby County have been one of the Championship’s best this season, sitting just outside of third in the competition. Derby are gunning for an automatic promotion spot, and have lost just once at home all season. The Blues will need to play a strong match to knock off Derby, who had been leading the Championship up until last weekend.
Chelsea FC Team News
Thibault Courtois is out with the groin injury, I’m assuming we’ll see Cech again in-between the sticks. Nathan Ake and Ramires are still questionable, no one’s sure where they stand as of yet, but it’s safe to assume they won’t feature. Chelsea has nearly a week off, thanks to the magic of television broadcasting, so Mourinho could probably run out some of the regular starters without any risk of losing fitness for the next match (Stoke City away for the record).
Predicted Chelsea FC Starting XI
————————–Cech—————————
—Luis———–Zouma——-JT———Azpilicueta
—————Fabregas————-Matic————–
—-Willian————-Oscar———-Hazard——-
—————————Costa————————-
Predicted Result
Chelsea FC 3-0 Derby County. The Blues should still prove successful against Derby in this League Cup quarterfinal. Derby are a solid Championship team, but that’s they are still just a Championship side. I think the Blues will find some success from a suddenly re-invigorated Diego Costa and Eden Hazard, plus the return of Cesc Fabregas. Chelsea should prevail.