Middlesbrough vs Chelsea – Carabao Cup: TV channel, team news, lineups and prediction

Chelsea visit Middlesbrough on Tuesday night for the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie.

The Blues seemed destined to exit the competition in the last eight before an erroneous Kieran Tripper header allowed Mykhailo Mudryk to equalise in stoppage time before Mauricio Pochettino’s side downed Newcastle on penalties.

Middlesbrough, meanwhile, have enjoyed a fairly tame route into the semi-finals. Michael Carrick’s men have beaten Huddersfield, Exeter, Bradford and Port Vale to set up this tie.

Chelsea made light work of middling Championship opposition in the FA Cup on Saturday as they put four past a slumping Preston. Boro, who sit 12th in the second tier, were cruelly denied a replay at Villa Park by Matty Cash’s late deflected winner.

Here’s 90min’s preview of Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.

Middlesbrough vs Chelsea H2H Record (Last Five Games)

Current form (all competitions)

Middlesbrough confirmed lineup vs Chelsea (4-3-3): Glover; Van den Berg, Engel, Fry, Bangura; Howson, Barlaser. Hackney; Jones, Crooks, Latte Lath.

Chelsea confirmed lineup vs Middlesbrough (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Silva, Colwill; Fernandez, Caicedo, Madueke, Gallagher, Sterling; Palmer.

Boro were comfortably second best at home to Aston Villa at the weekend, with injuries clearly inhibiting the pre-season play-off hopefuls.

The hosts aren’t in a slump quite like Preston, who Chelsea put to the sword on Saturday, and they should make life tricky for the Blues at times on Tuesday night. The Riverside will undoubtedly embolden Carrick’s men, but Poch’s side head into the cup tie in good spirits.

Chelsea have won four of their last five and they should get the job done pretty comfortably to all but seal their progression into the final.

Prediction: Middlesbrough 0-2 Chelsea

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