Chelsea host Barnsley in the Carabao Cup tonight, and Frank Lampard is expected to make wholesale changes to his starting XI.
A busy schedule - and the truncated nature of the season - means there is not much choice other than to rotate heavily.
The competition will provide opportunities for youngsters, players on the periphery and those - like Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell - slowly returning to full fitness.
For some, though, the Barnsley game is as important as it gets. Chelsea’s squad, after a busy summer, is now filled with talent, so competition for places is inevitably going to become a more prevalent issue.
There is a need to impress Frank Lampard, particularly for a select group of players who find themselves somewhere between first-team regulars and outcasts.
We’ve taken a look at those who really need a good night against Barnsley.
Fikayo Tomori
“I hope he feels the trust in him,” said Lampard after Tomori played in the weekend’s 2-0 defeat against Liverpool.
“He showed that last year, starting last season's pre-season as fifth centre-back in most people's eyes and then playing 20-plus games for Chelsea, so I have got full confidence in him.”
These were typically supportive words from Lampard, though Tomori will want to be wary of slipping into complacency.
The 22-year-old has been linked with a loan move to Everton, and that still might happen. It wouldn’t spell the end of his Chelsea career, though. He is still young and with years ahead of him in the top flight.
Lampard’s trust is key, but a strong performance against Barnsley could mean Tomori is back into the first-team frame on a regular basis, instead of being shipped out on loan.
Antonio Rudiger
It remains to be seen if the German will start tonight, with Silva potentially given a run out as he looks to regain his fitness.
But if Rudiger is involved, he will feel the need to catch his manager’s eye. He did not play in either of Chelsea’s first two Premier League games with Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen and Tomori all preferred.
And reports have emerged that the 27-year-old might be considering his future as the close of the transfer window edges closer.
Perhaps Rudiger’s mind will be elsewhere should he play tonight. If he has hopes of reigniting his Chelsea career, though, he will need to perform well.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Loftus-Cheek’s struggles at Chelsea have largely been no fault of his own. A long-term injury stunted his development and he has only recently made it back into the first-team picture.
He is another young player Lampard has publicly backed, but there is a feeling that time is not on his side.
Now 24, Loftus-Cheek will hope to become a regular in Chelsea’s midfield, sooner rather than later.
To do so, he needs a consistent run of performances. The England international seemed a little off the pace against Brighton last week, and even Lampard’s patience has its limits.
Everyone at Chelsea wants Loftus-Cheek to succeed, but standards are high. The Carabao Cup is an opportunity for him to prove himself ahead of sterner tests to come.
Callum Hudson-Odoi
Like Rudiger, Hudson-Odoi is supposedly considering his options, and there has been talk of a potential exit.
He certainly appears to have fallen out of favour at Chelsea, where he was once the next big thing. Few young players have been as consistently hyped up as the 19-year-old.
Hudson-Odoi has the talent to change the trajectory of the narrative, but he will need to start catching the eye very soon, particularly with Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic yet to return from injury.
Tammy Abraham
It might seem a little harsh to suggest Abraham needs a big performance tonight.
Still only 22, he was one of the highlights of last season for Chelsea, making the step up to the Premier League with real confidence and maturity. A return of 15 goals in the top flight was hardly unimpressive.
The issue for Abraham is that Chelsea have signed Timo Werner, widely considered one of the best strikers in Europe and a player who is unlikely to give up his place as the main man up front without a fight.
Abraham, then, must take every chance he can get to prove himself worthy of leading the line in Lampard’s side - starting tonight, against Barnsley.
