Chelsea vs Everton - as it happened: Blues book their place in League Cup quarters after victory over Toffees

Re-live all the action from Stamford Bridge

The two sides have already met once this season with Chelsea coming out on top (Getty)

Antonio Conte and his Chelsea team will be targeting a second victory in five days when they host manager-less Everton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening.

The Blues, following the disappointment of successive league losses to Crystal Palace and Manchester City, will hope to build some positive momentum after Saturday’s stirring 4-2 triumph over Watford at Stamford Bridge.

Fortunately for the hosts, there doesn’t seem to be a better time to welcome the Toffees to west London. Following the decision of the Everton board to sack Ronald Koeman after a 5-2 defeat at home to Arsenal on Sunday, the Merseyside club have reached a new nadir in what has already been a substandard season.

Batshuayi scored two goals as Chelsea came from behind to win at the weekend (Getty)

Caretaker David Unsworth will be desperate to reverse this disappointing trend, however, and may view a shock victory over a Chelsea team who have proven inconsistent so far this term as an ideal opportunity to impress his seniors.

Conte, with Chelsea visiting both Bournemouth and Rome in the next week, will certainly make some changes for the fixture, with Kenedy and Charly Musonda – who both impressed in a 5-1 victory over Nottingham Forest in the last round -both likely to start in midfield. The Italian, though, will remain confident of a positive result.

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What time does it start?

Chelsea vs Everton kicks off at 19:45.

Where can I watch it?

Highlights will be shown at 22:30 on Channel 5.

It’s a big game for…

Gylfi Sigurdsson. The Icelander has so far failed to reach his elegant best in Everton blue. Tonight may prove a good chance to change that – in his preferred No.10 role he could create havoc amongst a weakened Chelsea backline.

Sigurdsson has struggled since joining Everton (Getty)

Best stat…

10-0. Over their three most recent meetings, Chelsea have netted 10 times without the Toffees scoring.

Remember when…

Romelu Lukaku’s splendid solo effort in the last cup fixture between the two sides, in 2016. How Everton would love to be able to call upon the big Belgian for some similar inspiration this evening…

Player to watch…

Jordan Pickford. The young keeper’s brave shot-stopping has been a rare positive this season for Everton. He will have to be on fine form again here to repel Chelsea’s attacking contingents.

Past three meetings…

Chelsea 2 (Fabregas, Morata) Everton 0, August 2017

Everton 0 Chelsea 3 (Pedro, Cahill, Willian), April 2017

Chelsea 5 (Hazard x2, Alonso, Costa, Pedro) Everton 0, November 2016

Morata scored twice the last time these two met (Chelsea FC)

Form Guide…

Chelsea: WWLLDW

Everton: WDLDLL

Odds…

Chelsea: 7/15

Draw: 7/2

Everton: 23/4

(Odds provided by 888 Sport)

[25 October 2017 18:43 · Liam Corless]

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of tonight's Carabao Cup action. We'll be primarily focusing on Everton's trip to Chelsea here with score updates from Tottenham vs West Ham.

Team news from Stamford Bridge coming shortly.

[25 October 2017 18:46 · Liam Corless]

[25 October 2017 18:47 · Liam Corless]

Chelsea team to face Everton confirmed

[25 October 2017 18:50 · Liam Corless]

Everton team to face Chelsea confirmed

[25 October 2017 18:58 · Liam Corless]

Chelsea's rich record in the League Cup

Only one club has more League Cup trophies in their cabinet than Chelsea and that's Liverpool with eight.

The Blues, who have won the competition three times since the turn of the century, are joint-level with Manchester United and Aston Villa on five titles overall.

Can Antonio Conte's men book their place in the last eight with a win over the struggling Toffees tonight?

[25 October 2017 19:01 · Liam Corless]

Tottenham vs West Ham team news

[25 October 2017 19:08 · Liam Corless]

What's Thibaut Courtois been saying this week?

The Chelsea stopper already has one League Cup in his trophy cabinet but he's eyeing up another:

"It's a cup, and with any cup you want to win it," Courtois told Chelsea's website.

"It's a different kind of pressure than the Champions League, where we are doing well and we want to stay top of the group. In the Premier League we have to fight to keep on winning games and the Carabao Cup is something else, so we must try to do our best and go far."

[25 October 2017 19:11 · Liam Corless]

[25 October 2017 19:19 · Liam Corless]

Chelsea vs Everton - last five meetings

• Chelsea 2-0 Everton, Premier League (August 2017)
• Everton 0-3 Chelsea, Premier League (April 2017)
• Chelsea 5-0 Everton, Premier League (November 2016)
• Everton 2-0 Chelsea, FA Cup (March 2016)
• Chelsea 3-3 Everton, Premier League (January 2016)

[25 October 2017 19:28 · Liam Corless]

What has David Unsworth been saying this week?

The Toffees legend has taken over as interim manager following Ronald Koeman's exit and he's made no secret of the fact he wants the job on a permanent basis.

"Who wouldn't want the job? I want to manage and this is an amazing club to be manager of. I make no secret of it," Unsworth said earlier this week.

"The chairman has given me an opportunity to hopefully get a run of games where hopefully performance levels go up. From that, performances will dictate any future for me as Everton manager."