Southampton make the trip to Chelsea on Tuesday and will be hoping to put in a performance worthy of getting them through to the League Cup Quarter-Finals.
With Chelsea’s squad strength and form, it will be a tough task to come away from Stamford Bridge with a result. However, league form is thrown out the window when a midweek cup game arrives.
Ralph Hasenhuttl has hinted that he will make changes for this fixture given that he will need his first-choice team fit to take on Watford in the Premier League this coming Saturday.
With that in mind, let’s look at some of the players who could be in with a chance of starting tonight.
Smallbone, Adams and Lyanco amongst those to come in for Southampton?
One player who looks set to be involved is Will Smallbone. It is unknown whether he will be able to start at this stage, but he was not involved for Southampton’s B team on Monday night in their narrow win over Reading.
The 21-year-old had been building up his fitness in the Under-23 level games after only recently returning from an ACL injury.
Stuart Armstrong could play some part but could be kept for the weekend, whilst James Ward-Prowse, Jack Stephens and Moi Elyounoussi are all unavailable through suspension and injuries.
Fraser Forster could be handed a start in goal, whilst Yan Valery and Kyle Walker-Peters could come in to the full-back positions. Ralph Hasenhuttl has hinted that Valery has the potential to play as a centre-back but it would surely be a risky move to throw the young Frenchman into a position where he has not played before in a game against Chelsea.
Oriol Romeu and Ibrahima Diallo may have to get through one more game in central-midfield, but Nathan Tella, Che Adams and Adam Armstrong could be given a chance to show their worth in attack.
Predicted Southampton line-up
Fraser Forster; Yan Valery, Lyanco, Mohammed Salisu, Kyle Walker-Peters; Oriol Romeu, Ibrahima Diallo; Will Smallbone, Nathan Tella; Che Adams, Adam Armstrong