Is Middlesbrough vs Chelsea on TV? How to watch EFL Cup semi-final, live stream, team news and kick off time

Two football clubs who are underperforming in the league will have the perfect opportunity to push for silverware as Championship side Middlesbrough host Premier League giants Chelsea in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.

Middlesbrough, who are currently 12th in the Championship will have fond memories of this competition, which they won for the first time 20 years ago in the 2003/04 campaign.

Meanwhile, visitors Chelsea, who are 10th in the Premier League, are accustomed to winning trophies and will hope to win the Carabao Cup for the sixth time in their history. The Blues are amongst the most successful teams of the 21st century, but are yet to taste silverware since the takeover of American billionaire Todd Boehly in 2022. Pressure is ramping up on manager Mauricio Pochettino to get his side’s season back on track and a victory in this competition would ensure his team a place back in Europe next term.

Middlesbrough fans are dreaming of an upset and a victory in the Carabao Cup would make the North Yorkshire side the first non Premier League team to lift a domestic cup since Sheffield Wednesday back in 1991. The Carabao Cup clash is highly anticipated by fans around the world - here’s how you can watch it:

Is Middlesbrough vs Chelsea on TV?

Sky Sports Main Event will provide comprehensive coverage from the Riverside stadium as Middlesbrough play host to Chelsea. Build up to the game begins at 7pm and the game itself kicks off an hour later at 8pm. Fans wishing to stream the cup tie can also do so through the SkyGo app which is available to download on either a mobile phone or electronic device.

Team news

Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick, who won the competition three times as a player with Manchester United, has claimed that this game is an “unbelievable opportunity’ for his players to write their names into club folklore.

Boro attacker Morgan Rogers picked up his second booking of the EFL Cup in the beating of Port Vale, meaning that he must serve a one-game suspension for Tuesday's first leg. Carrick's reserves will also be depleted by the absences of cup-tied pair Finn Azaz and Sam Greenwood, who represented Plymouth Argyle and Leeds United earlier in the tournament, while Australian duo Samuel Silvera and Riley McGree are away on international duty alongside Senegal goalkeeper Seny Dieng.

No fresh injury concerns reared their ugly heads over the weekend, but all of Tom Smith (Achilles), Darragh Lenihan (Achilles), Lewis O'Brien (ankle), Marcus Forss (thigh) and Patrick McNair (back) remain out of contention for the time being.

Chelsea boss Pochettino is working around his own absentee crisis once more - a dilemma complicated by Nicolas Jackson's AFCON call-up and a new hip injury for Christopher Nkunku, who was unable to make the squad for the beating of Preston at the weekend.

Nkunku will not be passed fit for the first leg - Ben Chilwell (hamstring), Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) and Benoit Badiashile (unspecified) are also ruled out despite returning to full training - while Reece James (hamstring), Wesley Fofana (knee), Marc Cucurella (ankle), Robert Sanchez (knee), Lesley Ugochukwu (hamstring), Trevoh Chalobah (thigh) and Romeo Lavia (thigh) remain long term absentees.