League Cup Semi-Finals: Chelsea vs Tottenham preview

Chelsea and Tottenham are fighting for the last available spot in the League Cup final, the two sides clash at Stamford Bridge on Thursday to decide which of them will battle Manchester City for the trophy. The first leg produced a 1-0 victory for Tottenham thanks to a controversial penalty kick that was converted by Harry Kane. The two sides have also met in the Premier League in November, and Tottenham won that match 3-1 at Wembley Stadium in London with goals from Kane, Dele Alli and Son Heung-Min. That was the third consecutive win for the Spurs against the Blues, and the fourth in the last six direct matches in all competitions. Chelsea are going through their most difficult period of the season, manager Maurizio Sarri is upset with his players and made his feelings known publicly after last week's 2-0 defeat at Arsenal in the Premier League. Before that defeat the Blues managed to squeeze past Newcastle at Stamford Bridge, a 2-1 victory that was obtained mostly thanks to Willian's brilliant winning goal. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is the only injury concern for the Blues, but Sarri will probably choose to shuffle his pack considering they have a difficult match at Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday. Tottenham are doing pretty well in terms of results, but they are going through a major injury crisis as both Dele Alli and Harry Kane are now out of contention for a few weeks. They did lose 1-0 at home against Manchester United in the Premier League two weeks ago, but they recovered with a 2-1 victory at Fulham on Sunday and consolidated their third place behind Manchester City and Liverpool. Victor Wanyama and Moussa Sissoko are also out injured, while striker Son Heung-Min is still away on international duty at the Asian Cup. Lucas Moura could recover in time for this match, otherwise Fernando Llorente will be the one who leads the attack for the Spurs. Probable line-ups: Chelsea: Arrizabalaga - Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Christensen, Alonso - Kante, Jorginho, Barkley - Hudson-Odoi, Hazard, Willian Tottenham: Gazzaniga - Trippier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Davies - Eriksen, Winks, Dier, Nkoudou - Llorente My prediction: 1-1 draw, Tottenham should be able to hold on to their advantage from the first leg. Here are the odds for the match at Bet365: Chelsea win - 1.61 Draw - 4.20 Tottenham win - 6.00