Manager overjoyed with cup win
The Chelsea manager spoke about that entertaining win over Newcastle in midweek:
Our fans are amazing, they behaved well because the team translated well. It is our responsibility to perform well. The fans react well when they can see the team shows great energy. It was a shame we didn’t score before but it is a massive lesson for us. We are young but we try always to push and never give up. That was the best lesson we can take from the game.Mauricio Pochettino
Poch looking to build on Carabao Cup win
It seemed like Chelsea were heading out of the league cup in midweek as they trailed Newcastle 1-0 heading into added time.
A last-gasp equaliser by Mudryk took the game to penalties.
Chelsea prevailed in the spot kicks and now face Middlesbrough in the semi-finals.
Pochettino will be looking to use this a springboard for their league campaign.
O’Neil focussed on festive high
Victory for Wolves over Chelsea would take them level on points with The Blues in the Premier League table.
Chelsea would still remain above them on goal difference unless something completely out of the ordinary occurs in the showdown.
For Wolves, it would be a great result as things have not gone their way this season with them having some very debatable VAR decisions costing them a lot of points.
Welcome to Wolves vs Chelsea
Wolves welcome Chelsea to Molyneux for only the second ever Christmas Eve game the Premier League has seen, with both teams looking to sign off in style before the big day.
Gary O’Neil announced that Pedro Neto had enjoyed a full week of training and would be available to play some part in the game today.
Joe Hodge is still recovering from a shoulder operation while Jonny has been banished from first team activities for the foreseeable due to a serious training ground incident.
Chelsea are still feeling the winter blues and will be missing Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Carney Chukwuemeka, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella, Robert Sanchez and Ben Chilwell due to injury.
Enzo Fernandez will miss the game due to a hernia while Levi Colwill should be able to feature despite coming off in the previous game due to fatigue.
Romeo Lavia, Lesley Ugochukwu and Noni Madueke may all be in contention to feature this weekend also after training all week.
Blues’ fans will be hoping to see the long-awaited debut of Christopher Nkunku, it remains to be seen if the manager wants to ease him back into first-team duties.