Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea will lock horns in the fourth round of the EFL Cup at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday night.
Spurs were given a bye in their third-round clash with Leyton Orient following a coronavirus outbreak in the League Two side's squad, but Chelsea thumped Barnsley 6-0 to progress to this stage.
Both sides will enter the match off the back of Premier League draws, with Chelsea coming from three goals behind to share the points with West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Tottenham, meanwhile, conceded a last-gasp penalty to draw with Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon.
Both managers will feel that they have bigger fish to fry this season than the EFL Cup, but the chance to eliminate a rival from a cup competition means that it is still a very important clash.
Some of the Premier League's biggest stars could be on display on Tuesday and with that in mind, Sports Mole picks a combined XI from both squads, using only players available for the game.
There is a strong chance that both managers will make wholesale changes from the weekend but for the purposes of this article, we have decided to select what we believe to be the strongest XI of available players.
As a result, Hugo Lloris gets the nod between the sticks, edging out Chelsea's Kepa Arrizabalaga and Willy Caballero. Edouard Mendy could well make his debut for the Blues following a move from Rennes, but it is difficult to select the Senegal international at this stage, meaning that Lloris takes the gloves.
Three of the back four come from Chelsea, with Reece James edging out Tottenham's Matt Doherty at right-back, while Ben Chilwell has overcome his injury problems and could debut for Frank Lampard's side in this game. Thiago Silva also gets the nod in central defence despite making a high-profile error against West Brom on his Premier League debut.
The final spot at the back goes to Tottenham's Davinson Sanchez, who edges out teammates Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld. The Colombian has not always shown his best form for Jose Mourinho's team but deserves to be included over the likes of Fikayo Tomori, Andreas Christensen and Kurt Zouma.
A midfield three, meanwhile, consists of two Chelsea players and one from Tottenham, with N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic featuring for the Blues. Kovacic was excellent for his London club last season, while Kante is still one of the best central midfielders in world football despite struggling to show his best form during the 2019-20 campaign.
Harry Winks is also included, which is an indication of his improvement over the last 12 months. The England international has gone from strength to strength under Mourinho and is chosen ahead of teammates Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Giovani Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele and Moussa Sissoko, with the latter potentially missing out on Tuesday through illness.
Son Heung-min would have been an absolute certainty to feature in the final third, but the South Korean picked up a hamstring injury against Newcastle and will not be available for selection against Chelsea. Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic have not played for Chelsea this season, meanwhile, and therefore the options in the final third are actually quite limited, with Gareth Bale also still on the sidelines for Tottenham.
Kai Havertz scored a hat-trick in the last round against Barnsley and makes the XI, having also played a key role in Chelsea's response against West Brom, providing an excellent assist for Callum Hudson-Odoi to score for 3-2. Havertz is joined in the side by teammate Timo Werner, who is yet to register a competitive goal for his new club but demonstrated at RB Leipzig that he is capable of scoring goals at the highest level.
The final spot, at the tip of the attack, was always going to Harry Kane. The 27-year-old has been in wonderful form this season, scoring three times and providing five assists in five appearances in all competitions. It did not quite happen for the England captain against Newcastle on Sunday, but he was in sensational form against Southampton on September 20. Kane has also come up with two goals in two Europa League qualifiers this term to fire his team closer to the group stages of the competition.
Matt Law
