Why Marc Guiu is now eligible for Chelsea in Carabao Cup after EFL rule change | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca will now be able to select Marc Guiu for Chelsea's Carabao Cup campaign this season.

Chelsea face Lincoln City in the third round on Tuesday night at the LNER Stadium, and are looking to end a run of two straight defeats in all competitions.

It is their fourth away game in a row and Chelsea are yet to win any of the previous three (D1, L2), so Maresca will be keen to get back to winning ways to claim their first victory since they beat Fulham on August 30.

While Maresca is expected to rotate his squad, his options in attack are limited following the injury to summer signing Liam Delap. Joao Pedro has been leading the line for Chelsea in recent games.

Pedro would ideally be rested on Tuesday night, particularly after Maresca's recent admission over several Chelsea players, including the Brazilian, managing 'small problems'.

IMAGO / Pro Sports Images

"We have some players with small problems from already a long time," admitted the Chelsea head coach," like Moi (Caicedo), like Joao, that they are trying to manage a little bit themselves."

One option for Chelsea could be Marc Guiu, who was an unused substitute against Manchester United on Saturday evening. It was thought the Spaniard would be ineligible, but it has been confirmed the teenager is available to be selected in the competition.

Why is Marc Guiu now available for selection in the Carabao Cup for Chelsea?

Guiu was due to spend the season on loan at newly-promoted Sunderland and made the switch to the north east during the summer. But following Delap's hamstring injury, Chelsea made the decision to recall the teenager in order to bolster Maresca's frontline.

IMAGO / Jan Huebner

During his time at Sunderland, Guiu made three appearances - two in the Premier League and, crucially, one in the Carabao Cup. Guiu played the full 90 minutes, in which he scored his one and only goal for the club, as Sunderland lost 7-6 on penalties to Huddersfield Town.

Rules from last season only allowed players to feature for one club in the competition, which would have meant Guiu not being available for the remainder of Chelsea's Carabao Cup campaign.

However, as reported by Nizaar Kinsella of the BBC, Guiu is eligible following a rule change, which permits players to feature for two clubs in the same season.

It's suggested Chelsea were not aware of the rule change and were informed by the EFL hours before their third round tie against Lincoln. However, Guiu is not expected to be involved on Tuesday.

But it does offer Chelsea an option going forward in the competition should they progress past the League One side.