Chelsea set for radio again as EFL Cup 4th round televised matches announced

If you live in the UK and will not be among the several thousand or so traveling fans to the former Olympic Stadium in about a month's time, unfortunately you will not be able to see Chelsea's EFL Cup (i.e. League Cup) fourth round match against West Ham United in real time.  (Illegal Periscope streams from the crowd do not count.)

Sky Sports have announced their picks for the fourth round today.  Unsurprisingly, they picked up the second Manchester Derby of the season, while for the other slot, they chose Liverpool vs. Spurs instead of West Ham vs. Chelsea.  I suppose that's an understandable choice, both from a pro-Liverpool media perspective as well as a neutral entertainment perspective (Klopp vs. Pochettino).

TV GAME: @LFC v @SpursOfficial in #EFLCup Round Four has been chosen for @SkySports coverage on Tuesday 25th October (7.45pm). pic.twitter.com/HeuFEjwAgT

— EFL Cup (@EFLCup) September 22, 2016

TV GAME: @ManUtd v @ManCity in #EFLCup Round Four has been chosen for @SkySports coverage on Wednesday 26th October (8pm). pic.twitter.com/auB4aGnG4t

— EFL Cup (@EFLCup) September 22, 2016

So Chelsea are left off television for the second time in this competition after the second round blackout against Bristol Rovers.

There is some hope however for overseas fans.  Unlike the second round, the TV rights from the third round forward allow foreign rights holders to show whichever match they want.  The date and time for our match against West Ham is not yet confirmed, but Chelsea were in this exact same situation last year, when beIN Sports USA showed our fourth round match against Stoke City instead of whatever Sky had picked for that day.  So there's hope yet.