There haven’t been any major upsets in the third round of the League Cup thus far — QPR beating Everton on penalties probably the biggest — so let’s make sure we stay the course and reach the fourth round safely.

As expected, Thomas Tuchel has rotated his team (ten changes!), as has, to a lesser extent, Dean Smith for Villa. Chilwell finally appears, as does Loftus-Cheek and Malang Sarr! Kanté’s the captain, though I would’ve liked to see him not play this game at all...

Here we go!

Chelsea starting lineup (3-4-3):
Arrizabalaga | Sarr, Chalobah, James | Chilwell, Saúl, Kanté (c), Hudson-Odoi | Loftus-Cheek, Werner, Ziyech

Substitutes from: Bettinelli, Mbuyamba, Silva, Barkley, Havertz, Mount, Lukaku

Aston Villa starting lineup (4-2-3-1):
Steer | A.Young (c), Hause, Tuanzebe, Cash | Nakamba, Sanson | El Ghazi, Buendía, Traoré | Archer

Substitutes from: Sinisalo, Konsa, Bogarde, Carney, A.Ramsey, Philogene-Bidace, Caleb

Date / Time: Wednesday, September 22, 2021, 19.45 BST; 2:45pm EDT; 12:15am IST (next day)
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Graham Scott (on pitch)

On TV: none (UK); none (USA); none? (India); SuperSport PSL (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: none — radio coverage on talkSport 2 & Chelsea TV (UK); ESPN+ (USA); JioTV (India); DStv Now (NGA)

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Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!