Lincoln City v Chelsea: Line-ups, stats and preview
All you need to know about Lincoln v Chelsea
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Lincoln v Chelsea match preview
Lincoln City warmed up for the visit of Chelsea in style by beating Luton Town – a Premier League side two seasons ago – 3-1 on Saturday to remain undefeated at home this season and extend their unbeaten run to 10 matches in all competitions.
With his side third points from the third-tier summit, manager Michael Skubala is entitled to be targeting victory against opponents whose priorities lie elsewhere and are on a three-game winless run, losing their most recent two 3-1 at Bayern Munich in the Champions League and 2-1 at Manchester United in the top flight.
“Chelsea coming to town is a really exciting thing and we’ll put a team on the pitch who we think can win the game,” said former Leeds United assistant Skubala, speaking to Lincoln’s YouTube channel.
“It’s going to be hard. We don’t know what personnel they’re going to play but, whoever is on that pitch for Chelsea, we know they’re going to be top players.
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“We truly believe, at home, if we do our stuff and look after the way we want to play, we can cause damage and hurt teams.
“We want to be in the headlines for winning it. It will be a great achievement if we can get to the next round.
“There’s a huge connection between the players and the fans at the minute – you can really feel it. Tuesday night is going to be a packed house and we want to get the job done.”
One of the major names City fans are unlikely to see at the LNER Stadium is England international Cole Palmer, who lasted 20 minutes at Old Trafford on Saturday.
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‘He made a huge effort to try to play,” Maresca said of Palmer. “He was not 100 percent but he wanted to be there to help his teammates in that kind of game.
“It was painful [for him], so we decided to change. We await day by day to see how he is and then decide what we do.”
Asked about the prospect of an upset, Marseca suggested football is “full of these games” and the Italian is familiar with Chelsea repeatedly being considerable favourites in cup matches from their run to Conference League glory last season.
“We will have some players [involved] from the academy, like we have always done,” he added, referencing that campaign.
“We have some [senior] players who have had [physical] problems for a long time, like Moises Caicedo and Joao Pedro.
“They are trying to manage it a little bit themselves, but then the rest are okay. Cole is probably the only one we need to assess a little bit.”
Lincoln City v Chelsea team news
Winger Reeco Hackett could return to contention for Lincoln after missing the win over Luton through illness.
“He started the season really well for us but he couldn’t make it for [that] one,” Skubala said of the 27-year-old Saint Lucia international.
Forwards Freddie Draper and Rob Street will hope to keep their places after coming in to the starting line-up on Saturday, when on-loan Everton striker Frankie Okoronkwo dropped the bench.
Midfielder Gbolahan Okewoye made his City debut in their 3-1 win at League Two club Harrogate Town in the first round but is now on a short-term loan to Isthmian League Premier Division team Billericay Town.
Chelsea centre-back Benoit Badiashile and midfielder Romeo Lavia have returned to training following absences but will not feature, while defender Levi Colwill, midfielder Dario Essugo and striker Liam Delap remain out.
Palmer is unlikely to be risked four days before the Blues are next in Premier League action at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Mykhailo Mudryk has not been in a matchday squad since December and was charged by the FA in June with violating anti-doping rules after failing a drugs test, with the winger saying categorically that he has never knowingly used any banned substances.
Lincoln v Chelsea predicted lineups
Lincoln starting XI: George Wickens, Tendayi Darikwa, Adam Reach, Adam Jackson, Tom Bayliss, James Collins, Conor McGrandles, Sonny Bradley, Rob Street, Ben House, Freddie Draper
Chelsea starting XI: Ted Curd, Jorrel Hato, Trevoh Chalobah, Andrey Santos, Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez, Facundo Buonanotte, Tyrique George, Marc Guiu, Estevao, Jamie Gittens
How to watch Lincoln v Chelsea: Live stream, TV channel
Kick-off on Tuesday is at 19:45 BST (14:45 ET / 11:45 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Sky Sports Football.
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Lincoln City v Chelsea stats
- In the last 5 Lincoln City matches the sum of goals was under 3.5
- Lincoln City have won 4 of the last 5 home matches while scoring more than 1.5 goals
- In 4 of the last 5 Lincoln City matches the sum of goals was under 2.5
- In 5 of the last 7 Lincoln City home matches in the EFL Cup, the sum of goals was over 2.5
- Lincoln City have lost 3 of the last 4 home matches in the EFL Cup and the sum of goals was over 2.5
- Chelsea have won 11 of the last 13 matches while scoring more than 1.5 goals
- Chelsea have lost the last 3 away matches in a row in the EFL Cup while scoring less than 0.5 goals
- Chelsea have won the last 5 away matches in a row while scoring more than 1.5 goals
- In 9 of the last 10 Chelsea away matches in the EFL Cup, the sum of goals was under 3.5
- In the last 5 Chelsea away matches in the EFL Cup, the sum of goals was under 2.5
Lincoln v Chelsea prediction
Chelsea tended to beat sizeable underdogs comfortably during Maresca’s first season in charge, winning each of their European group stage matches by at least two goals and beating fourth-tier teams Morecambe and Barrow 5-0 at home in the domestic cups.
No team has scored more home goals in League One this season than Lincoln, so up the odds by backing a 3-1 away win.