Chelsea will face off against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium this Tuesday night as they look to secure a positive result in the first leg of their EFL Cup semifinal clash. The Blues managed to secure a dominant 4-0 win over Preston North End in the FA Cup recently, so they would be full of confidence ahead of this game.
Mauricio Pochettino will opt for the 4-2-3-1 formation and is expected to make some changes to his first XI for this game. Both Conor Gallagher and Thiago Silva will get the nod to play from the start of this contest.
4-2-3-1 Chelsea Predicted Lineup To Face Middlesbrough
Defence
Dorde Petrovic will feature in between the sticks for the Blues after earning a clean sheet in his last outing. Axel Disasi will operate alongside Thiago Silva at the heart of the Chelsea backline as they look to keep things solid at the back during the game.
Malo Gusto will function at right-back while Levi Colwill fills in on the other flank as the left-back. Both of them need to pick and choose their moments to join in on the attack.
Midfield
Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez will resume their partnership in central midfield for Chelsea as they try to dictate the tempo of the game and engineer some decent chances in the final third. The talented trio of Raheem Sterling, Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer will play just ahead of them as part of Pochettino’s attack.
Sterling managed to score a great goal against Preston which should keep him in high spirits ahead of this EFL Cup game. We can expect Mykhailo Mudryk and Ian Maatsen to make up the numbers on the bench as they wait for their opportunity to make an impact in the second half if required.
Attack
Armando Broja will lead the line for the West London club in the final third. He would be eager to cause problems for the Middlesbrough centre-backs throughout the 90 minutes.
Noni Madueke will have to settle for a spot on the bench and might come on to influence the game in the latter stages if the Blues are in need of a goal by then.
