English League Cup Semi-Finals Hang in the Balance: Liverpool Leads, Middlesbrough Challenges Chelsea

After the opening legs, the English League Cup semi-finals are still up for grabs, with Liverpool holding onto a 2-1 lead going to Fulham and second-tier Middlesbrough taking a 1-0 lead to Chelsea.

A preview of the squads before Tuesday's return games against Chelsea and Wednesday's fixture against Fulham:

Chelsea: The squad put on a terrible show in the first leg at Riverside Stadium to highlight the work that still has to be done to be back among England's best, just when everything seemed to be finally calming down at Chelsea under Mauricio Pochettino.
While the squad is mired in ninth position in the Premier League, the cups provide the greatest — perhaps the only — opportunity of winning silverware this season, therefore Chelsea may still be favorites to make it to the final on February 25. Chelsea is still in the FA Cup, but their matchup with Aston Villa in the fourth round will be difficult.

Cole Palmer from Manchester City may be the most astute addition of all the high-profile additions made in the last two years. The 21-year-old attacker is Chelsea's most inventive player and has five goals in his previous six league appearances. He did, however, blow a huge opportunity in the first leg.

Middlesbrough: It has been 11 years since a club from outside the Premier League has advanced to the League Cup final. Bradford, which was in the fourth division at the time, impressively made it to the championship game in 2013 before Swansea crushed them 5-0 at Wembley Stadium.
Despite losing two players to injury in the first 20 minutes of the match, Middlesbrough, who are coached by former Manchester United and England midfielder Michael Carrick, are well-positioned to do so after putting up a strong showing in the first leg. Carrick's choices are severely restricted with three players cup-tied, two additional players (Isaiah Jones and Jonny Howson) entering the injured list, and Australia internationals Riley McGree and Sam Silvera at the Asian Cup. 'Boro, who is ranked 11th in the 24-team Championship, will probably need to put in a relentless effort at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool: Even without Mohamed Salah, the Premier League leaders are the clear favorites to win the tournament as they aim for a record-tying tenth League Cup. A 4-0 league victory over Bournemouth demonstrated their potential.
Salah is playing for Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations, but he will shortly be going back to England to get medical attention for a muscular ailment.

Fulham: Thanks to Willian's early goal at Anfield two weeks ago, Fulham advanced to the League Cup semifinals for the first time and had a remote chance of surprising Liverpool. Since then, Marco Silva's club has only participated in one league game, a 1-0 loss to Chelsea, but it has lost five of its past eight games across all competitions.

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