Derby County travel to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Derby County take their excellent current form to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, as former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard leads the Rams in a much-anticipated fourth round Carabao Cup clash.
Lampard took over the managerial hotseat at Derby in the summer, and so far he has managed to drastically change the playing style with supporters very much on board with the way the team is playing.
Derby head into the clash coming off the back of an excellent week, picking up seven points from a possible nine against fellow Championship promotion challengers Sheffield United, West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough.
But arguably Derby’s best performance in Lampard’s short reign to date came in the previous round of the Cup, as the East Midlands side beat Manchester United on penalties at Old Trafford.
Lampard will want to reward his Derby first-team players’ excellent recent performances by giving them the chance to play at Chelsea, but despite the glamour of facing the Blues, surely the weekend league clash at home to an in-form Birmingham City side should be prioritised.
Derby have a big squad, and some players need games. Curtis Davies, back from injury, is likely to come in while Florian Jozefzoon, Craig Forsyth, George Evans, Duane Holmes, Andre Wisdom, David Nugent and Bradley Johnson will all be pushing for a start.
On-loan Chelsea duo Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori have been given permission to face their parent club, and they will be desperate to show Blues boss Maurizio Sarri whay they are about.
Here’s how HITC feel Derby could line up:
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