Chelsea may be casting envious eyes round the Premier League this week with many of their traditional rivals in Champions League action but Xabi Alonso’s men have an important match of their own to focus on.
An EFL Cup third-round tie may not get the home fans’ juices flowing normally but a game with age-old rivals Leeds should provide plenty of spark.
Chelsea have made a decent start under Alonso but the former Real Madrid boss is eager to maintain an upward trajectory.
“We know that it’s going to be a long process, but you need to be assessing how are things going,” he said. “And so far, I think that we can be happy, but we need to be self-demanding as well, that we can do better. But there are other parts that we can’t afford to have so much time, that we need to improve.
“For sure, we want to have as many clean sheets as quickly as possible. And that’s going to be an issue for every game, knowing that the competition is hard. But we are taking steps, but there are still lots of steps to be taken.”
Leeds have not won a major domestic trophy since 1992 and boss Daniel Farke is hoping to edge closer to a trip to Wembley.
He said: “We try to win it. That is a topic, the quickest way to Europe and to some glory.
“Of course, knowing that the Premier League always will have the priority and to make sure that we are as successful as possible there, and especially to reach our first goal, to establish ourselves on this level.
“We are not the favourites to win the EFL Cup. We know this also [will be a] challenging, difficult game. But of course we travel to London in order to go through in the next round without doing anything stupid.
“At this stage of the campaign, of course, you also have to rotate a bit more and integrate a few new players.
“That is also important but, nevertheless, we want to be at our best and if possible we also want to go through into the next round.”
Recent results and stats for Chelsea v Leeds
- This is the third time in four seasons Chelsea have drawn Leeds United in a cup competition, with the previous two meetings coming in the FA Cup.
- The sides have faced each other in 10 domestic cup ties with Chelsea progressing every time: three in the League Cup in 1969, 2001 and 2012, and seven in the FA Cup.
- Chelsea are unbeaten at Stamford Bridge against Leeds United in nine games across all competitions, winning seven and drawing two.
Where to Watch Chelsea v Leeds: TV and online streams
The match kicks off at 8pm on Wednesday, September 9 and will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK. Chelsea’s own Matchday Live service also carries minute-by-minute updates and live audio commentary from five minutes before kick-off, available via the Chelsea Official App and the club website’s Match Centre.
You can stream it via Sky Go.
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