Capital One Cup - Shrewsbury Town vs Chelsea

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The 4th round of the Capital One Cup pits 1st in the First Division against 4th in the Fourth as Chelsea take on League Two side Shrewsbury Town at the New Meadow Stadium this midweek. The draw is undoubtedly the standout of all the 4th round pickings; indeed, the face-off was immediately selected for live coverage by Sky, a dream draw for the home side and the chance for an upset seemingly proving too good an opportunity to pass up.










Both sides booked their place in this stage of competition courtesy of a pair of wins over Championship sides in the previous round a month before. Shrewsbury pulled off a scalp over high-flying Norwich City with a 1-0 victory over the Canaries through a goal from James Collins, while Chelsea triumphed over struggling Bolton Wanderers at directly the opposite end of the Second Division table 2-1 via a first Chelsea goal from Kurt Zouma and a long-range effort from Oscar, cancelling out Matt Mills' equaliser 6 minutes after the former.
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The most recent meeting between the two sides - and the only one of any kind since the 80's - was in the FA Cup in 2003, in a match that took place in the very same round of that competition as it will do in this one Tuesday evening. Claudio Ranieri's Blues triumphed 4-0 in it having been inspired by Gianfranco Zola, who assisted one and netted 2 on the night, including a superb chip from the edge of the box over Shrews goalkeeper Ian Dunbavin for the visitors' third.










In question for the Blues are strikers Loic Remy, who is out definitively until after the International break in a few weeks following his injury in the Blues' 6-0 victory over NK Maribor a week previous, and Diego Costa, who, even if fit, is unlikely to feature.











José Mourinho will also be without full-back pairing Cesar Azpilicueta and Branislav Ivanovic following the duo's sendings-off and subsequent bans in games against Crystal Palace and Manchester United respectively.

Will be interesting to see the team lineup. I can see a lot of youth players starting.


* defence will be some combination of Ake, Zouma, Christensen, Luis, Terry and Cahill. I have no idea who will start though.

Should be a win here, but I don't care either way.

We've a squad capable of competing for and winning this trophy. A loss in the 4th round to a League Two side would be anything but something I'd be indifferent over.


As for the team, we've said the same thing re youth going into a number of games, and it never turns out to be the case. Think Ake will start (but only because Mourinho's hand has been forced into it) and possibly one other.

I think Solanke will start. Drogba played a full game, why would we risk playing him again if Costa isn't fit for the weekend?

Baker may be a bit hopeful, but I think he may feature.

Kick wrote:I think Solanke will start. Drogba played a full game, why would we risk playing him again if Costa isn't fit for the weekend?

True.
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Kick wrote:Baker may be a bit hopeful, but I think he may feature.

Can see a definite sub appearance, at least.
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I would like to see Oscar rested though.

As for the defence, I could see:
Ake Cahill Zouma Luis

Cech in goal almost certainly.


Also likely to see Shit-lah, if we can dig him up and dust him off in time. We'll be playing against 4th division opposition so hopefully he'll be able to pull off something halfway useful or two. But I won't be holding my breath.

Yeah, I think Schurrle on the left as he barely played against Utd.

Him too. Maybe he'll be able to keep a shot or two on target against a nobody League Two
keeper?

Maybe.

• Shrewsbury have won all three Capital One Cup games this season 1-0, with all three wins coming against sides in higher divisions.
• Chelsea and Shrewsbury have not met in any competition since January 2003, when the Blues won 4-0 in an FA Cup fourth round tie.
• Indeed the Shrews have not beaten Chelsea since New Year’s Day, 1983.
• The last Premier League side to visit the New Meadow in this competition was Swansea City in August 2011; they lost 3-1.
• Chelsea have won 13 and lost none of their last 15 League Cup games against lower ranked sides; a run that goes back to 1999.
• The Blues have kept eight clean sheets in their last 13 away games in this competition.

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— Opta match stats, via the Daily Mail

Solanke starts for the U21s against Tottenham this evening.


Effectively rules out him featuring at all tomorrow.

Jose has said that Schurrle, Salah, Ake, Zouma and Mikel will all play.

Brown pls

It'll have to be Schurrle or a youth player up top.

If he can't play one of our most promising youth players in a position our first and second choice options are crocked in and our third is 36 and just played 90+ mins 2 days before, against a Fourth division side, in the least important competition we're in, when can he play them really?

Exactly.

Shrewsbury Town to see record crowd for Chelsea clash as Capital One fund extra seats to accommodate demand:
Shrewsbury Town host Jose Mourinho's star-studded Chelsea squad in the Capital One Cup fourth round on Tuesday night in front of a record crowd, as thanks to financial help from the cup sponsor, the club have installed temporary seating for the clash and due to demand will break through the 10,000 capacity barrier at their Greenhous Meadow Stadium for the first time
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2810144/Shrewsbury-record-crowd-Chelsea-clash-Capital-One-Cup-sponsors-fund-extra-seats.html

Tis going to be an event for the ages

Yep

Will you be able to watch the glorious event, Kickster?

Probably not, I am very busy this week and do not have time to get up early.

Not the best week for me.