Chelsea take on Leeds in Carabao Cup third round

Setembro 8, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

By Graham Ruthven

Up for the cup

Chelsea’s winning start to the season came to an end on Sunday as they were beaten 2-1 by Arsenal in a match that highlighted how far Xabi Alonso’s team still have to go in order to challenge for the Premier League title.

The Carabao AKA EFL Cup, however, is a realistic target with Leeds United visiting Stamford Bridge in Wednesday’s third round tie. With Chelsea out of Europe this season, the cup competitions will take on a larger importance.

As an attacking force, Chelsea have shown their quality so far this season, scoring 10 goals in four outings in all competitions. Defensively, though, they have been vulnerable, keeping just one clean sheet over this run of matches.

Leeds United have scored in four of their last six visits to Stamford Bridge. Daniel Farke’s side have won two and drawn two of their opening four fixtures of the new season and will fancy their chances of an upset on Wednesday.

Defensively, Leeds might have more reason to feel good about a positive result than Chelsea considering the Elland Road side have conceded just twice in three league games this season.

Alonso’s outfit might be favourites to make the next round, but Leeds have reached a point in their development where they can feasible target victory at a venue like Stamford Bridge. This promises to be a compelling encounter.

Key players

After 90 gruelling minutes against Arsenal on Sunday, Alonso is expected to make changes to his Chelsea lineup, meaning Danny Welbeck could be in line for a start after starting (and scoring) against Luton Town in the previous round.

Estêvão is another fringe figure who could start for the Blues. The Brazilian winger is vying with Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers for minutes this season and must make the most of every opportunity he gets.

Levi Colwill and Maxence Lacroix could start as Chelsea’s first-choice two defenders in Alonso’s back three while Pep Chavarría might be favoured in the left wing back position.

For Leeds, Harry Wilson could be in line for a recall. The Welsh international is still settling in after joining from Fulham in the summer with Lukas Nmecha also capable of producing a match-winning moment.

James Trafford will likely have to be in top form to keep Chelsea’s formidable forward line at bay with Nico Elvedi expected to be one of the starting three centre backs in front of the Leeds goalkeeper.

Team news

Jordan Henderson remains sidelined with the wrist injury he sustained at the World Cup with Moisés Caicedo and Marco Palestra still injury doubts. Colwill only made the bench against Chelsea due to a minor injury, but could return to the lineup against Leeds.

Ilia Gruev, Mateo Joseph and Joe Rodon are all expected to miss Wednesday’s match at Stamford Bridge through injury. Otherwise, Farke has a fully fit and available squad to choose from.

Prediction

Sunday was the first occasion on which Xabi Alonso’s side haven’t scored more than once since the Spaniard took over so we’re expected a return to form and (narrowly) winning ways on Wednesday night : Chelsea 2-1 Leeds.