Lincoln City vs Chelsea: Carabao Cup preview, team news, kick-off time & how to watch
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Chelsea begin their 2025/26 Carabao Cup campaign against League One side Lincoln City on Tuesday night.
Enzo Maresca's side head to Lincolnshire to face the in-form Imps, who are currently third having lost just one of their opening nine league fixtures (W5, D3).
Meanwhile, Chelsea are looking to end a run of back-to-back defeats against Bayern Munich and Manchester United to claim their first win in four matches in all competitions.
Maresca could be without Cole Palmer, who was forced off against Manchester United due to a groin problem. Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile, Romeo Lavia and Liam Delap remain unavailable.
Several academy stars are set to be included in the squad for the trip to Lincolnshire, Maresca confirmed, while Moises Caicedo and Joao Pedro have been confirmed to be carrying knocks.
"We have some players with small problems from already a long time, like Moi, like Joao, that they are trying to manage a little bit themselves," said Maresca. "But then the rest, they are okay."
Maresca knows Chelsea could avoid a shock upset if they are complacent on Tuesday night, adding: "These are the games that worry me most, because you can slip very easily in these kind of games. Football is full of these kind of games and I am very worried about that."
Here are all of the details ahead of the Carabao Cup tie between Lincoln City and Chelsea.
Date, time, location of Lincoln City vs Chelsea
Date: Tuesday 23rd September 2025
Kick-off time: 7.45pm UK / 2:45pm ET / 11.45am PT
Stadium: LNER Stadium, Lincoln
Competition: Carabao Cup third round
How to watch Lincoln City vs Chelsea
United Kingdom: Sky Sports+
United States: Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video
Prediction
Lincoln City 0-3 Chelsea
Matt Debono leads the editorial team which covers Chelsea On SI. He has witnessed Chelsea win it all, whilst also featuring on ITV News, SPORTbible and various other publications.