Chelsea boss Graham Potter ringed the changes as he took his side to the Etihad to face Manchester City.
With an important Premier League fixture coming up at the weekend away to in-form Newcastle, Potter opted to rotate his squad.
As usual in a Carabao Cup fixture, Pep Guardiola did the same, but due to Manchester City’s elite squad depth, they were still able to field a strong side.
Jack Grealish, in particular, had an impressive first half, tearing apart the Chelsea defence at times. Journalist Nizaar Kinsella noticed that Kalidou Koulibaly didn’t have the best of games, as seen in the tweet below.
Koulibaly received a booking for a foul on Grealish and overall looked like he wasn’t up with the pace of the game.
The experienced defender has been well rested in recent weeks and was an unused substitute against Arsenal in their latest Premier League game, so there’s little excuse for Koulibaly.
Potter is having a difficult time with injuries at the moment, with Wesley Fofana a huge miss at the back.