Brentford vs Chelsea LIVE: Carabao Cup result, final score and reaction tonight

Follow all the fallout from the EFL Cup quarter-final at the Community Stadium

Thomas Tuchel describes Chelsea's Covid-19 situation as a lottery

Follow all the action as Brentford host Chelsea in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals tonight.

The Bees will be playing their first match in almost two weeks after their squad was hit heavily by a Covid outbreak, causing their fixtures against Manchester United and Southampton to be postponed. The likes of Ivan Toney and Ethan Pinnock are now available for selection again, although they remain short on match fitness.

Chelsea, however, are still hampered by a host of absences due to injury and illness, with up to as many as nine first-team players unavailable. Thomas Tuchel, who was left infuriated after the Premier League rejected Chelsea’s request to postpone their fixture against Wolves last weekend, has called up a number of academy players to fill the gaps in their squad and is likely to field a heavily rotated side. The head coach will want to avoid the pressure of another disappointing performance and result, though, with the Blues now six points adrift of leaders Manchester City in the Premier League after just one win from their last four matches. Follow all the fallout below:

Brentford 0-2 Chelsea

• 80 mins: Jansson diverts James cross into own net to give Chelsea the lead
• 86 mins: Jorginho scores from the spot after Fernandez trips Pulisic
• Chelsea join Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool in semi-finals

[22 December 2021 19:04 · Alex Pattle]

Brentford host Chelsea in Carabao Cup quarter-finals

So, there are Chelsea first-team debuts for Harvey Vale, Xavier Simons and Jude Soonsup-Bell.

Elsewhere, it’s still a pretty strong team to be sent out by Tuchel.

[22 December 2021 18:47 · Alex Pattle]

Confirmed line-ups

Chelsea XI: Kepa, Simons, Chalobah, Sarr, Azpilicueta, Kovacic, Saul, Alonso, Barkley, Soonsup-Bell, Vale

[22 December 2021 18:46 · Alex Pattle]

Confirmed line-ups

Brentford XI: Fernandez, Bech, Jansson, Pinnock, Canos, Baptiste, Jensen, Janelt, Henry, Wissa, Mbeumo

[22 December 2021 18:39 · Alex Pattle]

Brentford host Chelsea in Carabao Cup quarter-finals

Brentford have not played in two weeks due to Covid-related match postponements amid their own outbreak, and they are without a number of injured players.

Similarly, Chelsea are expected to be without as many as nine first-team players due to injury and illness, and coach Thomas Tuchel may have to rely on academy players to help get through this tie.

Here are our predicted line-ups:

Brentford: Fernandez; Goode, Jansson, Thompson; Roerslev, Ghoddos, Bidstrup, Jensen, Fosu-Henry; Toney, Forss.

Chelsea: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Sarr; James, Saul, Kovacic, Alonso; Mount, Barkley; Havertz.

[22 December 2021 18:29 · Alex Pattle]

Brentford host Chelsea in Carabao Cup quarter-finals

As well as Chelsea’s trip to Brentford this evening, there will be quarter-final meetings between Liverpool and Leicester, and Tottenham and West Ham.

Last night, Arsenal thrashed Sunderland 5-1 to book their spot in the semi-finals, the draw for which will take place after tonight’s games.

[22 December 2021 15:25 · Tom Kershaw]

Brentford host Chelsea in Carabao Cup quarter-finals

Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage as Brentford host Chelsea in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

Brentford will be playing for the first time in twelve days after their last two Premier League fixtures were cancelled due to Covid breaks. Despite that, Thomas Frank has a relatively full squad available, with star man Ivan Toney in contention to start after recovering from Covid-19.

The same cannot be said for Chelsea, though, whose disappointing form has been compounded by a host of absences due to injury and illness. The likes of Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi are expected to miss out once again after testing positive, while there are doubts over the fitness of several senior players amid such a congested run of matches. Tuchel was left furious after the Premier League rejected Chelsea’s request to postpone their game against Wolves last weekend, and a frustrating draw saw his side concede yet more ground in the title race. Although the Carabao Cup won’t rank high up on the Blues’ list of priorities, they will certainly want to end a run of just one victory in their last five games in all competitions.