Carabao Cup 3rd round: Chelsea to face Barnsley next week

Chelsea will square off against Barnsley of the Championship, who finished 21st last season, just surviving relegation thanks to Wigan’s points deduction, in the third round of the League Cup next week. Barnsley, managed by Gerhard Struber, defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 in the second round last night.

Speaking after the match, Struber expressed his anticipation for getting to play against one of the Premier League’s big boys, in what could very well be the biggest match of his managerial career.

“It’s a bonus game for us. We have Reading first, and that is a very important game for everyone. But after that, we can focus on having a match against Chelsea. We have to work professionally before that because Reading are in very good shape. But once we have played that game, we can look forward to going to Chelsea.”

-Gerhard Struber, source: FourFourTwo

The match will take place at Stamford Bridge next Wednesday, September 23, in between our upcoming fixtures against Liverpool and West Brom.

Chelsea’s last match against Barnsley was a forgettable 1-0 defeat in the FA Cup quarterfinals back in 2008, a stark reminder of the dangers of playing down to your opponent with a lineup featuring the Chelsea legends of the mid- to late-aughts, just a couple months prior to reaching the Champions League final, falling victim to the second division outfit. Before then, the two sides had last met in 1998, during Barnsley’s lone season in the Premier League.

It’s quite likely that Frank Lampard will use this match to rotate the squad and keep players fresh to the higher priority competitions. Still, we’ll be expected to win and win handily, especially at home.

The Carabao Cup third round draw, in full, with quite a few juicy ties, is as follows:

Lincoln City vs Liverpool
Bristol City or Northampton Town vs Aston Villa
CHELSEA vs Barnsley
Preston vs Brighton or Portsmouth
Fleetwood vs Everton or Salford
Ipswich or Fulham vs Sheffield Wednesday
Leicester vs Arsenal
Leyton Orient vs Tottenham
Manchester City vs Bournemouth
Millwall vs Burnley or Sheffield United
Morecambe vs Newcastle United
Newport vs Watford
Luton Town vs Manchester United
West Brom or Harrogate vs Southampton or Brentford
West Ham vs Leeds United or Hull City
Wolves or Stoke City vs Coventry City