Cardiff City vs. Chelsea, U21 Premier League Cup: Open Thread

Thanks to international breaks and non-televised matches, it's been a month since we got to watch the Chelsea U21 squad in action.  Since the 1-0 home win over Schalke in the UEFA Youth League on that day, the boys notched up another European victory (2-1 away over Basel, more goals from Lewis Baker and John Swift) but faltered in the domestic league, dropping two points in an away draw at Newcastle (Jeremie Boga with the lone Chelsea goal).

Today, it's another brand new competition for Dermot Drummy's charges: the U21 Premier League Cup.  Basically, it's like the League Cup, but run by the Premier League and with only 52 entrants.  The 52 have been whittled down to just 32 after two qualifying rounds between the Category 3 and Category 2 academies.  The 13 remaining now join the 19 Category 1 academies, which is where Chelsea come in.

Long story short, it's a cup competition and Chelsea youth have been very good at cup competitions lately.  I'm expecting nothing but the best.

Chelsea U21 starting lineup (4-3-3):
Jamal Blackman | Adam Nditi, Alex Davey, Daniel Pappoe, Isak Ssewankambo | Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Nathan Aké, Lewis Baker | Islam Feruz, Isaiah Brown, John Swift

Substitutes from: Mitchell Beeney, Fankaty Dabo, Andreas Christensen, Alex Kiwomya, Jeremie Boga

The match will be played at a venue fit for the occasion: Cardiff City Stadium.  Kickoff is in about 10 minutes (19:05 GMT) and it's live on Chelsea TV.