The Citizens are challenging for trophies on all four fronts and come into this tie as holders.
Just two weeks after suffering a 6-0 defeat at the hands of a dominant Manchester City in the League, Chelsea will once again square off against the Citizens with the season's first piece of silverware at stake.
Both teams will meet at Wembley to compete in the final of the EFL Cup final on February 24.
Both Chelsea and Manchester City have an impressive record in this competition, having won the trophy on five occasions in the past. However, City will be odds-on favourites at Wembley given their dominant record in recent times. The Citizens are challenging for trophies on all four fronts and come into this tie as holders, beating Arsenal for the title.
Chelsea head into this tie after halting a miserable run of fixtures with a win over Malmo in the Europa League. Following their 6-0 away defeat to City in the league, Chelsea were also knocked out of the FA Cup at home by Manchester United. United romped to comfortable a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge as fans began calling for the sacking of Maurizio Sarri. However, Sarri will be hoping that the 3-0 win over Malmo will help boost his players’ confidence ahead of a match which could decide the fate of the Italian.
City on the other hand are flying high on confidence, especially after coming back from 2-1 down to register a 3-2 away victory over Schalke in the Champions League. However, midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has said that winning an unprecedented Quadruple (EFL Cup, FA Cup, Premier League, Champions League) is "nearly impossible: even as the Citizens continue to remain in the hunt for all four trophies. City could draw inspiration in their manager Pep Guardiola's record in finals though as the Spaniard has won 10 of the 11 major finals he has contested as manager.
Team News:
Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga remains a doubt for the final after suffering a hamstring injury in the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United. Willy Caballero is on standby and will feature between the posts if the 72-million-pounds worth Spaniard doesn't recover in time.
City await updates on the fitness of John Stones and Gabriel Jesus who are only just making their way back to full training following injury setbacks. The pair didn’t travel to Germany for City’s Champions League tie but could feature on the bench against Chelsea.
Possible XI:
Chelsea (4-3-3): Caballero; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Rudiger, Alonso; Jorginho, Kante, Barkley; Willian, Higuain, Hazard
Manchester City (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Otamendi, Laporte, Zinchenko; Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Gundogan; Sane, Aguero, Sterling
Players to watch out for:
Leroy Sane
The 23-year-old German came off the bench to inspire City’s comeback win over Schalke in the Champions League. He whipped in a brilliant free-kick from 30 yards out to level the scores and helped up the tempo of the game with his incisive dribbles. Sane will be keen to impress once again as he seeks to pin down a place in the starting XI.
Callum Hudson-Odoi
The 18-year-old's request for a transfer in the January window was denied by Chelsea even after Bayern Munich submitted four bids for the talented Englishman. Hudson-Odoi’s involvement has been restricted to substitute appearances but the youngster scored his third goal of the season in a rare start against Malmo. Fans have been longing to see more of the talented winger and Hudson-Odoi could push for a starting role with another explosive performance.
Form Guide: (all competitions – most recent first)
Manchester City: W W W W W
Chelsea: W L W L W
Betting Odds: (Bet365)
Manchester City: 4/7
Chelsea: 5
Draw: 7/2
Other popular odds can be viewed on Oddschecker.
Where to watch:
The Carabao Cup Finals will be telecast live on VH1 India and MTV India. Reliance Jio users can also follow the action on the JioTV app. The match begins at 10.00 PM IST.
Prediction:
Manchester City have been in rampant form this season and should pull out yet another comfortable victory to lift their first piece of silverware for the season. Chelsea will be pretty low on confidence and will most likely enter this game with a more defensive mind set following that 6-0 drubbing. A 2-0 win for City seems likely.
