Chelsea travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup in the midst of a topsy-turvy run of form. Last weekend, they were stunned at Stamford Bridge by Sunderland, which means they've got three wins and two losses in the last five games since their narrow third round win away at lower league Lincoln City.
With Cole Palmer out injured and João Pedro struggling to reproduce the form he showed at the Club World Cup and the early parts of the season, Enzo Maresca has been looking for some attacking consistency. After the Sunderland loss he bemoaned that his players "need to perform at 100%" and said "I think we were not good enough. Lack of creativity. We didn't create a lot, apart from the goal probably."
He couldn't have asked for better opponents for his forwards to rediscover form, though. Wolves are in the middle of a horror start to the season that's seen them take just two points in nine league games. Their only two wins this season have come in the Carabao Cup, a 3-2 win over West Ham United in the second round and a 2-0 win over Everton in the next.
After their last-minute loss to Burnley this weekend, Molineux turned toxic after the whistle and Pereira confronted the fans -- along with Strand Larsen -- and exchanged in heated discussions in front of the South Bank stand. With Wolves desperately needing a win, this could be a cracker of a Cup tie.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of the game:
How to watch:
The match will be on Sky Sports in the U.K., Paramount + in the United States, BeIN Sports in Australia, and FanCode in India. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date: Wednesday, October 29, 7.45 p.m. BST (3.45 ET; 1.15 a.m. IST, Thursday and 6 a.m. AEDT, Thursday).
Venue: Molineux, Wolverhampton
Referee: Jarred Gillett
VAR: N.A.
Team news:
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Enso Gonzalez, F: knee, OUT, est. return early January
Chelsea
Malo Gusto, D: DOUBT
Benoît Badiashile, D: knock, OUT, est. return early-Dec.
Cole Palmer, F: groin, OUT, est. return late-Nov.
Dário Essugo, M: thigh, OUT, est. return late-Dec.
Liam Delap, F: hamstring, OUT, est. return mid-Nov.
Levi Colwill, D: ACL, OUT, est. late-April
Expected Lineups:
Wolverhampton Wanderers (3-4-2-1)
GK: Sam Johnstone
CB: Ladislav Krejci | CB: Santiago Bueno | CB: Emmanuel Agbadou
RWB: Matt Doherty | CM: Joao Gomes | CM: Marshall Munetsi | LWB: Hugo Bueno
AM: Jhon Arias | AM: Hwang Hee-Chan
CF: Jorgen Strand Larsen
Chelsea (4-2-3-1)
GK: Robert Sánchez
RB: Reece James | CB: Trevoh Chalobah | CB: Tosin Adarabioyo | LB: Marc Cucurella
CM: Romeo Lavia | CM: Andrey Santos
RW: Estêvão | CAM: Facundo Buonanotte | LW: Pedro Neto
CF: Marc Guiu
Stats:
This is a stat that's emblematic of Chelsea's struggles with their forwards -- across all competitions, their top scorers are Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandes (4 each).
For Wolves, only Jorgen Strand Larsen (3) and the pair of Marshall Munetsi and Rodrigo Gomes (2 each) have scored more than a single goal this season across all competitions.
Latest news and analysis:
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