Chelsea faces Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, with the Blues aiming to secure a spot in the Wembley final against their mid-table Championship opponents. Mauricio Pochettino recognizes the importance of winning an early trophy for his squad, considering Chelsea's underwhelming performance in the season.

In terms of team news, Chelsea may be without Christopher Nkunku due to injury, while Armando Broja, who scored in the FA Cup, is expected to retain his place. Several players, including Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka, Reece James, and others, are ruled out due to various injuries. Andrey Santos is ineligible, having played in the League Cup for Nottingham Forest earlier in the season, and Ian Maatsen might miss out due to a potential loan move to Borussia Dortmund.

Chelsea are severely struggling this season and this is their only chance to lift a trophy this season. Carabao Cup is prestigious enough to satisfy the fans, so I expect Chelsea to push for a victory here with the full squad.

Middlesbrough can definitely cause some headaches for the Blues, but I believe that the quality mismatch in the attack will prove crucial in this clash and that Chelsea will come on top within 90 minutes.

切尔西将在卡拉宝杯半决赛首回合迎战米德尔斯堡，蓝军的目标是确保在温布利的决赛中击败他们在联赛中游的对手。毛里西奥·波切蒂诺意识到提前赢得奖杯对他的球队的重要性，考虑到切尔西在本赛季的平淡表现。

队内消息方面，恩昆库可能因伤缺阵，而在足总杯进球的布罗亚有望保住他的位置。包括本·奇尔韦尔、卡尼·楚克乌梅卡、里斯·詹姆斯在内的几名球员由于各种伤病而无法上场。安德烈·桑托斯在本赛季早些时候代表诺丁汉森林参加了联赛杯，而伊恩·马森可能会因为被租借到多特蒙德而错过比赛。

切尔西本赛季举步维艰，这是他们本赛季举起奖杯的唯一机会。卡拉宝杯有足够的声望来满足球迷，所以我希望切尔西能带着全队在这里争取胜利。

米德尔斯堡无疑会给蓝军带来一些麻烦，但我相信进攻端的质量不匹配将在这场比赛中证明是至关重要的，切尔西将在90分钟内领先。