Three days after its 2–1 victory in the Premier League, Chelsea travels north to St. James’ Park for its second straight meeting against Newcastle United, this time in the Carabao Cup.
The Blues ended the Magpies’ Carabao Cup dream a season ago, advancing to the semi-finals on penalties at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea ended up at Wembley in the final, but Mauricio Pochettino’s team was bested by Liverpool in the final.
Fresh off Sunday’s victory, Enzo Maresca once again has all first team players at his disposal. Although his team were superior to Newcastle last time out, it would be a surprise if any player repeats in the starting XI.
Maresca has made it a habit to fully rotate his squad, using a completely different XI in the league compared to the one in the Carabao Cup and Conference League.
Christopher Nkunku will look to continue his streak of scoring in every midweek game Chelsea’s played this season. He’s got nine goals already this season but Nicolas Jackson’s strong form has relegated him to just 153 minutes so far in the Premier League.
