Three academy players have been named in Chelsea's starting lineup for the EFL Cup tie at Brentford.

Head coach Thomas Tuchel acknowledged at his pre-match press conference that several youngsters would feature against the Bees, a consequence of the club's ongoing coronavirus and injury issues.

While the amount of prospects who have featured in training this week is said to have reached double figures, Xavier Simons, Jude Soonsup-Bell and Harvey Vale are the trio who start Wednesday's London derby.

Despite being identified as an injury doubt, Trevoh Chalobah starts in defence, with Malang Sarr again featuring against Brentford after collecting the Man-of-the Match award during the corresponding Premier League fixture two months ago.

Mateo Kovacic makes his first start since the end of October, partnering Saul Niguez in midfield, while Ross Barkley adds some experience in the final third.

On a substitutes' bench which features many senior players, Lewis Hall and Charlie Webster are further representatives of the academy setup.

Brentford: Fernandez; Sorensen, Jansson, Pinnock; Canos, Baptiste, Jensen, Janelt, Henry; Wissa, Mbeumo
Subs: Cox, Thompson, Norgaard, Forss, Ghoddos, Onyeka, Toney, Peart-Harris, Stevens

Chelsea: Arrizabalaga; Simons, Chalobah, Sarr; Azpilicueta, Kovacic, Saul, Alonso; Barkley, Soonsup-Bell, Vale
Subs: Bettinelli, James, Rudiger, Hall, Jorginho, Kante, Webster, Mount, Pulisic body check tags ::