Brentford will face Chelsea on 22 December 2021 at 19:45 UTC at the Brentford Community Stadium stadium in London, England. The game is a round of the EFL Cup. Chelsea are expected to be pushed back into action for Wednesday’s EFL Cup quarter-final against Brentford, three days after failing to have their Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers postponed.
The Blues’ team is suffering from an ever-increasing coronavirus outbreak, giving Brentford a better chance of taking a significant scalp in this West London rivalry.
If this match goes through as planned – which is far from certain in these day of short-notice postponements – Chelsea’s rage at being forced to play despite their seriously depleted roster will no doubt grow.
The Premier League and the English Football League decided on Monday to keep the festive fixture schedule intact, with games scheduled to take place unless a club can demonstrate that it lacks sufficient players to complete the event.
Chelsea thought they had crossed that line when they asked for their match against Wolves to be postponed over the weekend, only for the Premier League to turn down their request and insist on the Blues playing the game. After a goalless stalemate at Molineux, Thomas Tuchel was only able to select four outfield players and two goalkeepers on his bench as he watched his Chelsea team lose more ground in the title chase.
Chelsea are now six points behind leaders Manchester City after winning just one of their previous five games in all competitions and only three of their past eight Premier League matches.
Chelsea may view Wednesday’s game as an opportunity to rest some first-team players first and foremost, rather than a chance to reach the semi-finals of a major trophy, as one of only two teams to have completed all 18 Premier League games as well as playing in Europe and reaching the EFL Cup quarter-finals during the coronavirus crisis.
It would be perfect if Chelsea could do both, and Tuchel will be wary of any of his key players going all the way to penalties, as has happened in five of Chelsea’s previous six League Cup games against Premier League opponents. That includes both of their matches so far this season, with the European champions defeating Aston Villa and Southampton in penalty shootouts to set up this clash with Brentford.
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• Brentford v Chelsea
Match Link: https://t.co/I1sSolnGgY
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