Chelsea vs Middlesbrough live updates: Carabao Cup semi-final ...
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Sooner or later, Mauricio Pochettino is going to have a difficult decision to make over the goalkeeping position at Chelsea. He was recently asked by The Athletic about the status of Robert Sanchez’s comeback from an injury to his right knee, first sustained against Man United on December 6 and exacerbated at Everton four days later. He has not played since.
“Today he was on the pitch running,” Pochettino replied. “In the next few days, he is going to see how his knee reacts. But it is a very good and positive evolution.”
That suggests Sanchez is close to being available for selection again. But, as delighted as Pochettino sounded, his return will also give the head coach a problem given how well Djordje Petrovic has done in the Spaniard’s absence.
Dive deeper with our piece by Simon Johnson, Liam Twomey and Mark Carey below.
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Analysing Chelsea’s goalkeepers: Robert Sanchez vs Djordje Petrovic
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It is increasingly clear that Chelsea are looking for a way out of the Armando Broja business.
The Athletic reported this month that the 22-year-old striker will be allowed to leave Stamford Bridge in January if an acceptable offer is received, and his departure this month is not contingent on a replacement being signed.
No asking price was specified, but the only reason any club is happy to have it out there that they are “willing” to sell a player is because, in reality, they are actively trying to encourage potential buyers.
Broja is an attractive proposition in a number of ways, but none of the above guarantees a frothy market for his services in January. Read more below.
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Chelsea may struggle to sell Broja – and others – in a limited transfer market
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Why VAR is not being used in today’s Carabao Cup game between Liverpool and West Ham
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If Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney nets again at Stamford Bridge, the England Under 21 international will become only the second player to score in both legs of a League Cup semi-final tie for Middlesbrough after Paul Merson in 1997-98 against Liverpool.
It’s Thursday lunchtime in a small office at Middlesbrough’s training ground and Morgan Rogers’ conversation is ranging from the benefits of loan moves, through self-doubt and individual expression within a team structure, to contemporaries such as Brennan Johnson and Jude Bellingham and his friendship with Cole Palmer.
There is some cricket too — Rogers turned down trials with Worcestershire to concentrate on football a decade ago — and, of course, there is Middlesbrough’s League Cup semi-final second leg at Chelsea tonight. Rogers is the competition’s leading scorer with four goals. He missed the first leg through suspension. Boro lead 1-0.
Intriguingly, given what happens a few hours later, there is also a reference to the recent FA Cup tie against Aston Villa at the Riverside and a statement of youthful ambition regarding the Premier League as a destination — “It’s a dream to play there”. At around 7pm, it emerged that he had been the subject of two bids from Villa.
Read more here!
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Morgan Rogers interview: What he learned at Man City, from EFL relegation and from facing Aston Villa
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Putting football into perspective is not difficult for Oleksandr Zinchenko.
It is approaching two years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Visibility aids defiance and the national team’s Euro 2024 play-offs, in which Ukraine will take on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the semi-final in March, are looming large on the horizon.
But other geopolitical issues and conflicts — most notably the war in Israel and Gaza — have left the situation in Zinchenko’s homeland fighting for coverage.
“Maybe some people got fatigued about it, but all of us Ukrainians around the world… we can’t be tired from it because this is our lives, this is our country,” the Arsenal defender tells The Athletic.
Click below for the full interview.
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Zinchenko exclusive: On the war in Ukraine, Arteta, his own form and bonding in Dubai
Middlesbrough will also be missing some key players, including striker Emmanuel Latte Lath after he was taken off injured early in the first leg.
Winger Isaiah Jones also went off injured at the weekend but hasn’t yet been ruled out of Tuesday’s clash, while Luke Ayling, Sam Greenwood and Finn Azaz are all cup-tied.
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French forward Christopher Nkunku was ruled out by manager Mauricio Pochettino on Monday and won't feature.
Chelsea also continue to be without goalkeeper Robert Sánchez, defenders Reece James, Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella, plus midfielders Lesley Ugochukwu and Roméo Lavia.
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In English — a language that is, let’s face it, not always associated with elegant midfield play — we tend to call the player at the base of midfield a ‘defensive midfielder’ or ‘holding midfielder’, but in possession, the Spanish ‘pivote’ is more evocative.
The pivot is the hub of the wheel, the fulcrum of the lever, the central point around which the whole system turns (or ought to, anyway, when the ball isn’t sailing over their head in fine English fashion).
Below, the brilliantly knowledgeable John Muller looks at midfield pivots, how they receive the ball, and what that means. It's an eye-opening read.
This is part of the How Football Works series, a piece-by-piece look at the mechanics of the game
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Zinchenko exclusive: On the war in Ukraine, Arteta, his own form and bonding in Dubai
Make sure you follow our transfer news live blog here for all the latest transfer news from the Premier League and beyond.
It's run by the brilliant Michael Bailey and the superb Colin Millar.
At the top of the page, and clickable here, The Athletic is running a ‘Discuss’ tab where you can get involved with the action.
Fire us your questions, comments and observations - or contact us at our email: [email protected].
Looking forward to hearing from you!
You will seldom find a Carabao Cup semi-final between teams with a larger gulf between them.
Chelsea are ninth in the Premier League and Middlesbrough are 11th in the Championship — a total of 21 places between the teams.
Although, based on the first-leg result, you wouldn't know it!
Rewinding almost a week, Michael Carrick spoke repeatedly of the pride he felt towards his players following the first-leg victory.
"It’s as proud as I’ve been of the players," said the Middlesbrough head coach. "Knowing what they’ve put in and how close a group they are.
"Seeing the stadium supporting the lads right to the end when they needed that bit of help for the last 10 minutes or so, standing there and seeing that made me hugely proud.
"So it was a good night for that, a really good night for that, and hopefully we can create some more of them in the future."
As well as this live blog, we're running a couple of others concurrently.
The first of which is our live coverage of the crucial Africa Cup of Nations clash between Cameroon and Gambia, kicking off at 5pm GMT/12pm ET/9am PT.
It's being run by my erudite colleague Ed Mackey and you can view it here.
The big news is that Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has been dropped for the crunch group-stage fixture. Read more via the link!
Pochettino believes his side deserved more in the first leg and is aware of the upcoming task to overturn the deficit.
"We feel very disappointed after the (first leg vs Middlesbrough) because when you analyse, you deserved more," he said.
"But you have to be clinical. We have 90 minutes to fix the situation."
It has been another tough season for Chelsea, despite another transfer window — in the summer — of heavy spending. It was hoped things would be different under Pochettino, but they have largely remained the same as under Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.
But one of the shining lights of Chelsea's below-par campaign is the emergence of Levi Colwill in the backline. But he found himself at left-back again in last week's first leg.
That begged the question: Why does one of the club's best centre-back keep being played out of position?
The Athletic's Simon Johnson attempted to make sense of it — you can read it below.
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It is hard to believe Chelsea will see the best of Levi Colwill at left-back
Where else to start than with the first-leg result?
It was a brilliant performance from Middlesbrough and it has given them a genuine shot of making the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
This time last week, Hayden Hackney's well-taken first-half goal was the difference between the two sides.
It was a game that, in truth, Chelsea should have won with two or three golden opportunities being passed up by Cole Palmer. But their Championship opponents were good value for the 1-0 victory and have something to cling onto at Stamford Bridge.
