Chelsea will hope to return to winning ways as more pressure piles on the Blues to ease into the fourth round of the League Cup. Mauricio Pochettino’s side suffered their fourth defeat of the season after a 2-0 home loss to Brentford on Saturday, leaving them in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
The Blues defeated AFC Wimbledon 2-1 and Brighton 1-0 in Rounds one and two, respectively. Blackburn, on the other hand, defeated Harrogate 8-0 and Cardiff 5-2 to set up a clash at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea will be without seven first-team players. Forward Mykhailo Mudryk, who missed the defeat at Brentford, will also miss the game but could return for the London Derby against Tottenham on Monday.
Pochettino also hinted that captain Reece James will start the game after recovering from injury, and goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, could be set to make his Chelsea debut after his summer move from the MLS.
Blackburn will welcome back their skipper, Lewis Travis, who missed the club’s last two games. However, Sam Szmodics will miss the game after picking up a knock in the 1-0 loss to Swansea at the weekend.
Chelsea predicted XI: Petrovic; James, Badiashile, Colwill, Cucurella; Ugochukwu, Gallagher, Fernandez; Sterling, Jackson, Madueke
Blackburn predicted XI: L. Wahlstedt; H. Pickering, D. Hyam, H. Carter, J. Hill; S. Tronstad, A. Sigurdsson, S. Szmodics, J. Rankin-Costello, C. Brittain; T. Dolan.