On Tuesday night, Cheltenham Town and Chelsea Under-21s will face a battle in the EFL Trophy, with a trip to the quarterfinals of the Southern Section up for grabs.
The hosts beat Forest Green Rovers in the previous round, and the Chelsea Under-21s beat Peterborough United 4-2 to go on to the quarterfinals.
Our Match Preview: Cheltenham Town vs Chelsea Under-21s
Cheltenham earned six points in Group C of the Southern Section, good enough for second place and a bye into the round of 32. They eventually defeated Forest Green Rovers on penalties.
The League One team has to beat Chelsea Under-21s to reach the Southern Section Cup quarterfinals. On Saturday, Wade Elliott’s team lost 1-0 against Forest Green Rovers in the league, dropping them to 17th place with 25 points after 20 games.
Because of their FA Cup exit last month at the hands of Alvechurch by a score of 2-1, Cheltenham is putting more stock on this year’s EFL Trophy.
But League One will remain the club’s first objective, and head coach Elliott will have more than one eye on Saturday’s crucial league matchup with Lincoln City.
The Chelsea U-21s may be short on crucial players due to their participation in the first team’s midseason trip to Abu Dhabi.
Because of this, Mark Robinson’s squad won’t be at full strength, but the young team is confident in its ability to cause plenty of issues for its League One opponents anyway.
The Chelsea U-21 team won their Southern Section Group G by a comfortable six points, earning a bye to the round of 32 with a 4-2 victory against Peterborough.
The Blues’ offensive prowess against Peterborough was highlighted by two goals from Malik Mothersille and one each from Cesare Casadei and Ben Elliott.
Our Detailed Team News: Cheltenham Town vs Chelsea Under-21s
Elliott, Cheltenham’s head coach, may start the same lineup that defeated Forest Green Rovers in the previous round.
Players like Charlie Brown and Charles Raglan are anticipated to replace players who started the last two league games between the two sides on Saturday. Although, the League One club should keep Dan N’Lundulu on the back line.
Eddie Beach, Bashir Humphreys, Alfie Gilchrist, Dion Rankine, Lewis Hall, Casadei, and Mothersille are all on the first team in Abu Dhabi, while the rest of the Chelsea Under-21s are in London.
Players are returning to London after a friendly against Aston Villa. Thus there will likely be some notable absences from this match. However, some of the first team’s younger players may still be eligible to participate.
- Cheltenham Town Predicted Starting Lineup: Raglan, Southwood, Taylor, Jackson, Bonds, Freestone, Sercombe, Broom, Brown, Hutchinson, N’Lundulu.
- Chelsea Under-21s Predicted Starting Lineup: Brooking, Gilchrist, Beach, Williams, Elliott, Thomas, Abu, Sturge, Mothersille, Burstow, Castledine.
Our Expert Prediction: Cheltenham Town vs Chelsea Under-21s
Although Chelsea’s Under-21s roster for this game has not been officially announced, it will be a challenging battle for the Blues anyway since Cheltenham is a competent League One side.