We have a very exciting tip for Chelsea’s second leg

The second-tier side will go into the second leg of the English League Cup semi-final with a one-goal lead.

The second leg of the English League Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Middlesbrough will take place on Tuesday, with the Red and Whites looking forward to the game with a one-goal lead. However, the home side are the heavy favourites for the second leg, with bookmakers averaging odds of 1.25 to ‘H’ in three-way odds.

Team news

The sides met two weeks ago at the Riverside Stadium, where Hackney’s goal gave second-tier Middlesbrough a surprise 1-0 win.

Chelsea have played one game since then, beating Fulham 1-0 at Stamford Bridge four days later (which moved them up to ninth in the Premier League table), and since then they have not played a game and have been preparing for this match for the last 10 days.

However, Pochettino’s side are not looking forward to the game with the best of omens, as Sánchez, Cucurella, Fofana, James, Lavia, Ugochukwu, Nkunku, Gusto, Santos and Jackson are all out for reasons including injury, national team or previous appearances in the series, while Chalobah’s appearance is uncertain.

As for the visitors, the Red and Whites won 3-1 at home to Milwall after the first leg, but then only managed a 1-1 draw at home to last-placed Rotherham in the Championship, and they await the continuation from 11th place (which is the same as ninth-placed Watford, while they are just six points away from the sixth position).

However, like Pochettino, Micahel Carrick will be without a good number of his players on Tuesday. For similar reasons, as at Chelsea, Bangura, Latte Lath, Lenihan, Smith, Greenwood, Ayling, Silvera, McGree and Dieng are all out, with Jones’ game in doubt.

What is worth betting on?

Even though Boro are a goal up going into the return leg, it would still be a surprise to see them progress, but the second-tier side will certainly not be selling their skins cheaply, so we’d take a betting tip on the return leg.

We think Chelsea will not miss out, and we’re betting that the Blues will take at least five corners, as they did in the first leg, and that Middlesbrough will take at least two penalties. These are not devil’s advocates options, especially with Chelsea’s dominance in the second leg expected to be strong.

✅ Prediction #1: Chelsea win + Chelsea corner kicks over 4.5 + Middlesbrough cards over 1.5 @1.83

Betting Deadline: 23 January 21:00