Middlesbrough rattle wobbly Chelsea as Mauricio Pochettino faces up to another defeat
Taxi for Mauricio Pochettino. Chelsea’s hopes of silverware to paper over their cracks this season were being driven away in a Hackney carriage on another disappointing evening at the Riverside Stadium.
Pochettino may have been handed the draw he wanted to reach Wembley but, as he has found out this season, nothing is straightforward with this expensively-assembled team. Hayden Hackney’s goal means Chelsea must win later this month in the second leg of this EFL Cup semi-final.
This was a familiar story for Chelsea this season, who always seem to take as many steps backwards as they do forwards. Their multi-million pound signings had their chances but are all-too-easily rattled. Boro had the best young player on the pitch in local midfielder Hackney and his goal was set up by a player who turned out for Tooting & Mitcham United not so long ago.
Chelsea have not made it easy for themselves in this competition and needed penalties against Newcastle and recorded narrow wins against AFC Wimbledon and Blackburn. They have the quality to turn this tie around but teams must relish playing against a backline who look so prone to collapse. This was Chelsea’s first trip away in the EFL Cup this season and they will be desperate for home comforts.
Their bright spark was Cole Palmer but even he lost his eye for goal. Presented with an open goal in first-half stoppage time, he ballooned over the crossbar with the easiest chance.
For Pochettino, he will be hoping it is not another chance missed for silverware. At Tottenham he reached the EFL Cup final in 2015, then made it to the Champions League final. For a chance at his first English cup, he must now mastermind a comeback against a team who looked talented and organised under Michael Carrick.
“It was a really special night with the atmosphere. We have to take it as a one-off and enjoy it. We know the challenge of the second half and know it is going to be tough. There is a lot to take in,” said Carrick.
“It’s as proud as I’ve been as a manager, knowing what the players have put in and seeing the stadium when they needed a bit of help in the last 10 minutes. It was a really good night for that and hopefully there will be more.”
With the requisite facilities not installed at the Championship ground, it was a night off for the video assistant referee but they were desperately needed when Emmanuel Latte Lath ran through with 36 seconds gone after Levi Colwill’s wayward header. His shot was weak but replays showed that was because Axel Disasi clattered into his ankle. It could easily have been a red card with help of a replay, as well as a penalty.
Latte Lath, who was saved at the weekend for this tie, did not last much longer before he hobbled off and down the tunnel for treatment. It got worse for them when Alex Bangura was injured when fouled too. To add to the VAR frustration, there was a handball appeal turned down when Enzo Fernandez appeared to use his arm in the penalty area in the early stages.
Boro rode their luck but took full advantage in the 37th minute with the opener. Dan Barlaser’s ball over the top should have been dealt with easily but it was allowed to bounce and suddenly there was panic in the eyes of Pochettino’s backline. Isaiah Jones gave Colwill a head start but muscled the England international off the ball and his cross was side-footed in by Hackney. Only just back from injury, he looked at home against a midfield that cost more than £200 million.
Palmer missed an open goal when Tom Glover spilled a chance at his feet. It needed Conor Gallagher to pick him off the floor. It was that kind of miss, and it summed up Chelsea up to that point.
“It is how we compete, said Pochettino. “We made some mistakes and we were punished for that, in football that happens. We have to be pushing. If you assess the performance, then overall we were the better side, we created more chances and had the clear chances. But, we didn’t score. That has happened this season and there has been a lot of games we have not won because we were not clinical enough.
“We have a lack of goals, but not creating chances. We are creating many chances but not scoring them and if you don’t score then it is difficult to win.”
Noni Madueke had a header saved from close range in the second-half as Chelsea started to get closer to Glover’s goal. Gallagher also made runs into the penalty and was wide when he had sight of the net.
For Pochettino, he needs a striker. Armando Broja came off the bench but he returning from a serious injury and cannot cope with back-to-back matches. He also needs his injury list to reduce.
“Injuries? What a difficult question. What a difficult answer,” Pochettino said.
“Bad luck, some injuries you cannot manage, it is not about capacity or quality in all the areas. That is sometimes the profile and it is a difficult answer because we are suffering too many injuries.
“I don’t want to say bad luck only, as it is a way to justify. But to be honest, we’ve had such bad luck with Christopher Nkunku, Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana, too many. Situations are like this, 10 or 12 are out and it is difficult when you don’t have all the squad fit to work.”
Middlesbrough 1 Chelsea 0: as it happened
10:38 PM GMT
Michael Carrick speaks to Sky Sports
I know it’s a two legged affair and it’s all to play for but it’s very special. What we’ve had to go through with the injuries and the squad where it’s at, and the set-backs, to beat a team of the quality of Chelsea whatever the circumstances is special. But tonight I though the lads were exceptional. It was off the scale. I was so proud of them.
10:27 PM GMT
Mauricio Pochettino speaks to Sky Sports
Today the approach was good and about the attitude we can’t say nothing [critical]. We mad some mistakes in the first half and gave some chances to score and then, yes, they were vesoaggressive and tough to play. They play in transition and counter-attack with a deep block and it was difficult for us to break down that block.
But we had many chances. But we didn’t score. That is football. It’s only the firts half of the tie and I think we need to be positive.
We made some mistakes and were punished for that. We have to be tough and keep performing. If we assess the performance we were the better side. We created more chances, clear chances but we were not clinical but there have been games over the past six months that we didn’t win because we haven’t been clinical. These types of games if you don’t score it is very difficult to win. (!)
10:18 PM GMT
Isiah Jones is the man of the match and speaks to Sky Sports
Very special. A good performance from the team. Very solid defensively but we’ve got to go to their place. The manager told us to use the crowd as our 12th man and I think we did that with early chances and got the goal. We’ve got a lot of belief. We can take a lot of positives out of our last two games, we lost to a Premier League teambut only 1-0 and only in the least five minutes and beat a Premier League team so hopefully we can go there and get through to Wembley.
10:14 PM GMT
Thiago Silva pours oil on troubled waters
09:58 PM GMT
Full time: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Chelsea had seemed to be taking forward steps but seem to be back in a right old mess now. They were garbage in the second half after creating so many chnaces in teh first when their rubbish finishing let them down. The players have gone to the Chelsea section who boo them until Thiago Silva goes over for a word.
Boro lost two starters in the first 18 minutes but showed greater organisation and, it seemed, desire. They thoroughly deserved their victory.
09:55 PM GMT
90+4 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Deep bending right-foot cross from Mudryk on the left arcs towards the back-post and Gilchrist meets it. But Hackney has stuck with him and blocks the effort into the side-netting.
09:54 PM GMT
90+3 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Not sure why they committed so many men forward when Glover launched it. Thiago Silva won the header and Sterling ran from halfway. But Clarke took a gamble with a sliding tackle that was death or glory or rather red card or glory and mercifully, for him, won the ball.
09:52 PM GMT
90+1 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Boro free-kick 10 yards inside their own half. Glover heads up to take.
09:51 PM GMT
90 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Fry, one of a deep line of six, blasts away Mudryk’s cross. Crooks hits the deck after spraining his right ankle while tussling with Gallagher.
Chelsea sub: Gilchrist ⇢ Gusto.
Looks like there will be four added minutes. Yes.
09:48 PM GMT
88 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Oh dear. Rubbish cross from Gallagher goes out for a goalkick.
09:47 PM GMT
86 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Coburn pushes the ball down the side of Disasi and sprints into the box only to fall flat on his face.
09:46 PM GMT
84 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Boro fumble a Chelsea corner and the ball gets stuck in the six-yard box after a Clarke missed header but Howson wellies it out. Mudryk attempts to beat Glover but only succeeds in floating his shot down the Australian goalie’s throat.
09:44 PM GMT
81 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Better from Broja who gets his head down and accelerates down the left away from Van den Berg to fizz a wonderfully inviting daisy-cutter cross through the six-yard box that beats Glover ... and Sterling who could have tried to lunge at it as the goal was gaping. Or better still anticipate it and make an earlier run.
09:42 PM GMT
79 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Chelsea seem to get the ball at the edge of the box, find a packed defence with players tight to them but still try to force a pass or shot through a block tackle regardless. There is space behind the wing-backs but the blue shirte are all bunched up.
09:40 PM GMT
No closer
Chelsea do not seem to be any better at breaking down teams who defend the edge of their own box now than they were at the start of the season. And they also continue to look vulnerable to quick counter attacks. Question is, what are they working on in training?
09:38 PM GMT
76 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Pochettino’s mate is making notes. Chelsea haven’t been playing well but better finishing would have given them a comfortable lead.
Broja is stretching the three Boro centre-backs but Chelsea are not finding the killer ball.
09:37 PM GMT
74 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Glover makes a mess of a tame and forced Mudryk shot, dropping it before jumping on top to smother it. A minute later Sterling shimmies into space and flays a bending shot over the bar.
09:35 PM GMT
71 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Thiago Silva gives the ball to Coburn on halfway and the centre-forward gallops down the inside-left but neither picks his head up to see Crooks and pass to him in the middle nor finds the pace to outrun the 39-year-old. Thiago Silva scoots across the ground and, hounding him, forces him out of play.
09:33 PM GMT
68 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Another Boro counter catches Chelsea, this time down the right with Hackney and Engel combining to work the ball across the 18-yard line for Barlaser. He takes it on with his laces, with Jones converging and maybe cramping him but he slices it horribly, cutting his toe across the ball and sending it swerving wildly over the bar.
09:28 PM GMT
65 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Middlesbrough are penned in but spring the counter and Jones hares off up the right with three red shirts in support but when he gets to 15 yards from the byline he feeds the ball back through the area and behind Coburn and too far from Crooks who has been sent down a bline alley by Disasi’s covering run.
09:24 PM GMT
63 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Here they come: Mudryk ⇢ Madueke and Broja ⇢ Fernandez. Enzo departs to a chorus of ‘What a waste of money.’ Old school.
09:23 PM GMT
61 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Chelsea are grwoing into the half now and Gallagher wriggles free to the right of the D to flash a shot across goal and out by the left post as Fry closed the angle tenaciously. Broja and Mudryk are stripped and ready to come on.
09:22 PM GMT
58 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Fernandez has looked dangerous in an advancd inside-left position, working a couple of opportunities to cross. Boro are defending well, though, and Glover has improved since his first-half wobbles
09:17 PM GMT
56 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Madueke bends a cross from the byline behind everyone and Disasi blooters a 25-yard shot into the stands. Chelsea can’t find any rhythm at the moment.
Now Sterling gets in down the left but can’t beat the sheer number of red shirts in the box and his cut-back hits Van den Berg, killing all its threat.
09:15 PM GMT
54 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Glover hangs on to Madueke’s headed effort from the right of the box on tiptoes. Decent cross from the Warld Cup-winning Fernandez.
09:14 PM GMT
52 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Boro send the free-kick long, left-to right, deep into the box. Fry comes round the back but can only slice his effort from a tight angle wide.
09:13 PM GMT
50 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Barlaser picks off Gusto’s pass on halfway and Coburn gets on his bike but Barlaser hangs on to the ball and tries to dribble forward instead of passing. Caicedo clips him and concedes the free-kcik which spares Barlaser from Coburn’s anger.
09:10 PM GMT
48 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Boro are defending in a 4-2-4 with Jones high on the right to allow them to counter at pace when they dispossess Chelsea. He has his first opportunity to exploit his positioning when Boro win the ball back and send him down the wing. He races past Colwill, who is on a booking, and arcs over a cross to the back post for Coburn who is well-marshalled by Disasi.
09:08 PM GMT
46 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
No further changes at half-time as Chelsea kick off and move the ball from back four into midfield until Clarke snaps in to knock the ball away from Palmer but only to a blue shirt.
08:53 PM GMT
Half-time: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Boro have the lead with an attractive goal, well finished by Hayden Hackney but Chelsea have had the far better chances and may live to rue Cole Palmer’s profligacy if he doesn’t find some precision in the second half. Enjoyable game so far.
08:51 PM GMT
45+6 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Palmer is palyed in down the right of the box and has the time and space to open his body and bend his left-foot shot into the bottom left corner but doesn’t connect properly, or send it out wide enough, and Glover saves with his right hand. Palmer has missed a hat-trick of chances.
08:50 PM GMT
45+4 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Palmer misses a sitter after Glover, the No2 keeper promoted because of Dieng’s absence at Afcon, drops Fernandez’s speculative shot. It shot out of his hands like a bar of soap straight to Plamer five yards out but he hooks his volley, no doubt surprised to be given the chance, into orbit.
08:48 PM GMT
45+2 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
The first of six minutes (for the two injuries) of stoppage time starts quietly with Boro camped and compact in their own half ... forcing Chelsea to chance their arm. Caicedo RSVPs the invitation and scuds a right-foot shot from 25 yards wide of the left post. Not wide enough for Glover’s peace of mind and he scrambles across in a bit of a flap.
08:46 PM GMT
45 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Fernandez mugs Barlaser inside the Chelsea half and chips the ball down the right for Madueke but he can’t get the better of Engel. Hackney is working his socks off to help him out, too.
08:44 PM GMT
43 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Disasi is penalised for a foul on Coburn who stays down. Not another injury? Nope, he’s just biding his time.
08:43 PM GMT
41 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Madueke, so good against Luton and when he cam on against Preston, swipes a shot mile soff target.
08:42 PM GMT
39 min: Boro 1 Chelsea 0
Boro are straight back in gunning for a sceond when Gusto’s pass designed for Disasi is intercepted by Coburn. The centre-forward substitute strides into the area to shoot but Gusto makes amnds with a diligent, sliding block.
08:37 PM GMT
GOAL!
Boro 1 Chelsea 0 (Hackney) Wow! Diagonal from the heart of the defence from Barlaser out to the right. Jones, pushed high, collects and burns up the touchline to the byline before nutmeggging Colwill with his clipped pass through the six-yard box met perfectly by Hackney’s near-post run. And he turns his left-foot finish past Petrovic. Lovely goal, though Caicedo stopped expecting a cross and let Hackney go.
08:37 PM GMT
34 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Poor Bangura becomes Boro’s second casualty of the night:
08:34 PM GMT
32 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Chances at both ends, the best of them gift-wrapped for Chelsea by Howson’s misplaced 15-yard square pass to the away side’s inside-right. Palmer pounces, runs to the 18-yard line, opens his body and fades his left-foot shot wide of the right post.
From the goal-kick Middlesbrough fashion a chance for Hackney to get in behind Colwill who looks shaky at left-back tonight. Hackney edges ahead of Disasi but is pushed wide and Gusto comes over on the cover. He manages to get a shot off but drags it tamely wide.
08:31 PM GMT
30 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Chelsea waste a heading opportunity from the corner and Boro break. Colwill slips and lets Jones in behind him but before Barlaser can play him in to run at Petrovic, Colwill wrestles him to the ground. Free-kick.
08:30 PM GMT
28 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Madueke easily sitds down Clarke on the Chelsea right then cuts inisde off the wing into the box and bursts past Barlaser but before he can centre or shoot Fry races over to poke it behind with his toe for a corner.
08:27 PM GMT
A case for VAR?
There is no VAR being used in the Carabao Cup semi finals as Middlesbrough are the only side to have made it this far who do not have the technology installed in their stadium. Most people seem to be relieved it won’t be used but just as they did in the quarter final against Newcastle, Chelsea have got away with one early on because it is not being used.
In the quarter final, Moises Caicedo should have been shown a red card for a horrible tackle on Anthony Gordon in the opening few minutes. This time, Boro will feel they should have been awarded a penalty after Axel Disasi missed the ball with a desperate last ditch tackle and connected with the ankle of Emmanuel Latte Lath.
08:25 PM GMT
25 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Gusto does brilliantly to nip in to intercept and give Engel the slip but his pass up the right for Madueke, intended to put him away behind the back three, clips the winger on the heels and goes behind him. Boro clean up.
08:24 PM GMT
22 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Engel and Hackney combine to stop Madueke and Gusto down the right at the cost of a throw ... from which Hackney fouls Caicedo.
Chelsea switch the free-kick to Sterling on the left who floats a long, deep cross out for a goal kick.
08:20 PM GMT
20 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Clarke ⇢ Bangura (who becomes the 14th injured player in the Boro squad). Engel goes to left wing-back and Clarke to his natural position as one of the centre-halves.
08:19 PM GMT
18 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Bangura’s pace allows him to catch Madueke and telescope his leg in front of the spurting Madueke to win the ball. But in doing so he has twanged his hamstring.
Looks like he’ll be added to Boro’s lengthy casualty list.
Yep. He’s coming off, too. Carrick is the Fast Show’s Unlucky Alf and could be forgiven for uttering his immortal catchphrase comprised of two vowels, two gs, a b and an r.
08:16 PM GMT
15 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Gusto and Palmer combine down the right by playing a free-kick short. Palmer shapes to head to the byline but 12 yards short cuts back on his left and opens his body to pick out Gallagher who would have run on to shoot. But Howson read his mind and snapped in to intercept.
08:15 PM GMT
13 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Boro are trying to be compact but with a high line rather than a low block which, I would say could be dangerous given the absence of VAR. But they don’t play with VAR in the Champo anyway. Lucky them. A pair of corners for Chelsea on the right that Glover doesn’t deal with convincingly, blocked off initially during the first and flapping when he could have caught the second. No matter, though, Gallagher spoons his effort too high.
08:11 PM GMT
10 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Sterling pitter-patters down the left once more, body erect, his feet a blur yet, although he rounds Jones, his cross is meat and drink for Van den Berg.
08:09 PM GMT
8 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Hackney does well to send Bangura down the left as the wing-back spurts down the outside. He picks up his head and crosses but it’s slightly behind Crooks and his pass/shot is blocked by Fernandez. There’s a cry of handball but it didn’t leave his side.
A minute before Disasi’s casual header almost gave Coburn a sniff but he recovered, bailed out by his pace.
08:07 PM GMT
6 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Coburn ⇢ Latte Lath.
Boro let Palmer, who is playing through the middle, have too much space when Madueke plays him in from the right of the centre-circle down the centre. He takes a touch then flashes a low left foot too close to Glover from 25 yards.
08:05 PM GMT
5 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Scratch that. Latte Lath can’t continue. He tried but the knock on his ankle by Disasi has crocked the lad.
08:04 PM GMT
3 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
And both are passed fit to continue. Sterling dribbles down the left, skittering and darting and stands up Jones, playing as a wing-back but doesn’t diddle him and Fernandez, trying to feed on the scraps, can’t do anything with it.
08:02 PM GMT
1 min: Boro 0 Chelsea 0
Boro kick off, attacking from right to left. The Riverside is making a racket. Boro shift it back to Engel who is on the left of three centre-backs and he sprays a diagonal over halfway. Chelsea clear and Borio work it back to Glover who belts it up the right where Colwill messes up his defensive header and Latte Lath pounces to take the ball five yards into the box and wraps his foot around a shot as Disasi slides in to block but he can’t get enough power on it. Disasi’s followthrough takes out Latte Lath but it isn’t deemed a foul. Both need treatment.
07:58 PM GMT
Out come the teams
After the light show. Papa’s Got a Brand new Pigbag greets the teams as usual. Boro are in red, Chelsea in their third kit which, inexplicably, is also largely blue if of a darker hue.
07:55 PM GMT
Where's the depth?
It seems incredible that Chelsea have spent more than £1bn on players in three transfer windows since Todd Boehly took control and they are still forced to name two goalkeepers and four Academy players on the bench. The starting XI should be strong enough to see off Championship opposition of course but there is not a lot for manager Mauricio Pochettino to turn to if things go wrong against Middlesbrough.
07:52 PM GMT
As Chelsea fans pay tribute to Gianluca Vialli
Middlesbrough’s are mourning Keith Lamb, CEO to 2011 in which time Boro built the Riverside, Rockliffe Park, bought Juninho, Emerson, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Paul Merson, won the League Cup and were runners-up in Europe, this competition and the FA Cup.
RIP Keith Lamb, instrumental in @Boro's recovery in the 1980s and transformation in the 1990s.
Lamb was key in bringing the likes of Juninho to the club and many will remember this photo on the back of the Evening Gazette after Boro had got their man. #UTB pic.twitter.com/uG5WZOlwte— Dr Tosh Warwick (@Tosh_Warwick) January 4, 2024
07:36 PM GMT
Pochettino on an unsual situation for his players
There’s no VAR. That is a thing we need to be careful of. Our normal attitude is to play with VAR. We need to be cautious of that.
We need to be in a different way in our approach. We need to change. Now, it’s just the referee that is going to decide, we need to be cautious.
It’s a different game whether you play with or without VAR. I don’t say it’s better or worse, but it’s a different game. We need to be clever in this way.
07:35 PM GMT
Michael Carrick on the desire to emulate Boro's class of 04
It feels a long time ago. From the club’s point of view, it’s a huge, huge day for the club and I remember it, yes. Gareth was playing, Juninho was playing. I’ve seen the pictures up around here and I know what it means to people.
It was a major part of the history of the club and a massive, massive success, so I’m fully aware of what that means to the supporters and so many people connected to the club, so again that’s what you can achieve if things come together.
07:26 PM GMT
And now for those of you watching in black and white
Middlesbrough Glover; Van den Berg, Fry, Engel; Bangura, Barlaser; Hackney, Isaiah Jones, Howson, Crooks; Latte Lath.
Substitutes Clarke, Gilbert, Coburn, O’Brien, Jamie Jones, Kavanagh, McCabe, Bridge, Akono Bilongo.
Chelsea Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Thiago Silva, Colwill; Fernandez, Caicedo, Gallagher; Madueke, Palmer, Sterling. Substitutes Williams, Golding, Mudryk, Bettinelli, Broja, Deivid Washington, Gilchrist, Bergstrom.
Referee: Sam Barrott (Huddersfield)
07:02 PM GMT
Howson returns to captain Boro
Our team 👊@unibet #UTB pic.twitter.com/xejBeOF377
— Middlesbrough FC (@Boro) January 9, 2024
07:01 PM GMT
Chelsea make three changes
In come Thiago Silva, Gallagher and Madueke:
Your Chelsea side to face Boro! ✊@ParimatchUK | #CFC | #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/FFP5jwYswH
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 9, 2024
05:17 PM GMT
Having a bet?
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05:13 PM GMT
Preview: Two games from Wembley
Good evening and welcome to live coverage of the first leg of the first League Cup semi-final between Middlesbrough and Chelsea from the Riverside. It is a poignant fixture for Chelsea fans who were mourning the one-year anniversary of the death of Gianluca Vialli at the weekend, paying tribute to the manager who led them to victory over the Boro in this competition’s final at Wembley 26 years ago. Vialli was a fine player, a fine manager and an even better human being. The world is diminished by the absence of a man of such generosity and integrity that he warmed the hearts of most people he encountered. Chelsea have never been well-liked outside their fanbase, Luca Vialli almost universally was.
Both sides have been on curious but contrasting Carabao campaigns so far. Boro have had five away ties but have played only one side atb their level or above – Championship Huddersfield – before beating Bolton, Bradford, Exeter and Port Vale. Chelsea, starting a round later, have had four home ties, beginning with a victory over AFC Wimbledon and then knocking out Brighton, Blackburn and Newcastle United.
Middlesbrough have had a weird season – nothing new there, the Championship is routinely downright peculiar – recovering from no wins in their first seven league games with six victories on the spin but only five wins from 13 since. They played well in defeat by Aston Villa in the FA Cup last time out but their injury problems have been made worse by a one-match ban for the tournament’s top-scorer, Morgan Rogers, which rules him out until the return leg at the Bridge in a fortnight.
Loan signings Finn Azaz and Sam Greenwood are cup-tied, their two Aussies, Samuel Silvera and Riley McGree, are at the Asia Cup and their first-choice keeper, Seny Dieng is at the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal. Lewis O’Brien, Marcus Forss, Paddy McNair, Darragh Lenihan and Tom Smith are still out with various injuries and ailments.
Having covered Chelsea’s last two games against Luton and Preston, there have been definite green shoots in terms of coherence and building a platform for their quality to shine. Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke have made great strides but there is still a problem with the distribution from Mykhailo Mudryk and Moses Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez have yet to achieve the kind of consistency you would expect from the fees Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali paid for them. Yet given how thin Middlesbrough’s resources are, it would be a major surprise if Chelsea did not prevail.
They will have to do so without Nicolas Jackson, who has gone to Afcon, Christopher Nkunku, who has picked up another niggle, Ian Maatsen, who is joining Dortmund, and the injured Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Robert Sanchez, Lesley Ugochukwu, Trevoh Chalobah, Romeo Lavia, Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka, Benoit Badiashile, Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all. One glimmer of light for the physio’s workload – three of the last four, Chilwell, Badiashile and Chukwuemeka, could be back at the weekend for the derby with Fulham. Old Uncle Tom Cobley, being homegrown, will be flogged to help with their PSR compliance.
