Ben & Rob's preview - Chelsea (Carabao Cup)

It's the third match-up of what is now a trilogy against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup in recent seasons - 2018/19, 2020/21 - and here's what N17 Live presenter Ben Haines and Club Commentator Rob Daly think as we face the Blues again in the competition, this time in the first leg of our semi-final at Stamford Bridge this evening (7.45pm).

Rob Daly

"There's no denying there has been a drop off in Chelsea's results for the first time under Thomas Tuchel, and it's allowed Man City to peel away at the top of the Premier League. However, coming from 2-0 down to claim a draw with Liverpool will surely have given them a lift. Romelu Lukaku has apologised publicly to Chelsea fans after his recent comments and being left out of Sunday's squad - and I sense he'll want to really prove himself in front of the home fans. Timo Werner always seems to play well against Spurs and could return from COVID to feature too, so they're looking strong in attack. Edouard Mendy is at AFCON, Andreas Christensen is a doubt while Trevoh Chalobah is out - but their squad is stacked and it'll be a tough couple of games no matter who plays. From a Spurs point of view, it was nice to see the team grind it out and get a late winner at the weekend - and the squad seems in good shape even if Ryan Sessegnon, Steven Bergwijn and Cristian Romero remain out. With Morecambe at the weekend, and the prospect of rotating in that game - you sense Antonio Conte will go as strong as possible tonight. Oh, and his reception back at Stamford Bridge will be interesting!"

Ben Haines

"I've been burned a few times by decent first legs in the past, so I'm going to keep my feet very much on the ground for this one, particularly thinking of what happened in the two legs against Chelsea in the League Cup in 2018/19, when we lost on penalties at their place! What I will say though is I believe it suits us massively to have the second leg at home and to have the atmosphere with us for the tie that really matters - in the second half against West Ham in the quarter-final, the crowd lifted us so much in that tense last 15 minutes. Chelsea are undeniably in a tough spot, but when has that ever stopped them having a brilliant game against us and the player who seems to be in a spot of bother suddenly coming up clutch against us too! They've struggled like the rest of the league with the inevitable at this point during the season - COVID and injuries in an incredibly packed fixture list. Having said that, I thought they performed really well to draw 2-2 against Liverpool after going 2-0 down.

"I think it's really important that we get off to a good start and put ourselves in the best possible position for the second leg. I'd hope we go as strong as we possibly can and really try to work through the phases in this game. Our front three have looked great in recent weeks and it would be brilliant to see them firing again. Equally, there are a few players who have struggled a little for game time who I'm sure will be hoping for their chance to smash it in a big tie like this! This is another great test of our defence who have played so well since Antonio came in, so fingers crossed for another excellent display at the back with some free flowing attacking football at the other end!"