With the Blues struggling for cutting edge and Pochettino's men missing a number of key attackers, Al Hain-Cole doesn't expect much goalmouth action
Chelsea will be aiming to overturn a 1-0 aggregate deficit when they welcome Tottenham to Stamford Bridge for Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg.
The Blues were unfortunate to go down to a Harry Kane penalty at Wembley, suffering a third consecutive defeat against their London rivals.
However, having won 20 and lost just one of their last 31 home games against this opposition, they are 4/7 (1.57) favourites with bet365 to get themselves back into the tie by coming out on top here.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men have only lost one of their last 15 away matches in all competitions, and are available at 9/2 (5.50) to take their place in the final with another victory in this one.
There have been no draws in any of the last seven meetings between this pair, but you can get odds of 3/1 (4.00) on this one finishing up all square.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek is the only absentee for Maurizio Sarri, although he may be tempted to return Callum Hudson-Odoi to the line-up.
Dele Alli suffered a hamstring injury in the weekend’s win over Fulham and joins Victor Wanyama, Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko on the sidelines, while Son Heung-Min is on international duty.
However, Eric Dier is ready to return to the starting XI after coming on as a substitute at Craven Cottage and Lucas Moura could also be in contention.
Sarri’s men dominated both possession and shots on goal at Wembley, but were held back by their familiar inability to turn chances into goals.
Having scored just eight times in their last nine fixtures, the hosts will surely struggle to find their way past a visiting defence that has conceded only four times in their last seven matches on the road.
Given Tottenham’s attacking absentees, odds of 10/11 (1.91) look generous on no more than one team finding the net for Chelsea’s eighth match in 10 and a fifth in six for Tottenham.