Chelsea’s Carabao Cup tie vs Brighton is crucial and Mauricio Pochettino is

Paul Merson says he is worried for Chelsea ahead of their Carabao Cup tie with Brighton; the Sky Sports pundit also looks at whether Arsenal should target Ivan Toney in January after Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus failed to score in the north London derby

Paul Merson says Mauricio Pochettino looks like he is beginning to panic and Chelsea’s Carabao Cup tie at home to Brighton on Wednesday is crucial.

The Blues have won just twice this season, while they have not scored in their last three matches and lost at home to Aston Villa on Sunday.

Ahead of their game against the Seagulls, Merson says he is worried for Chelsea, while he also looks at whether Arsenal should target Ivan Toney and Liverpool’s clash with Tottenham.

‘Chelsea’s next 10 games are vital – but where is the win coming from?’

Chelsea need the Carabao Cup more than any other team. Wednesday night’s cup tie with Brighton means more to Chelsea than any of the other teams left in the tournament.

I said Tottenham missed a trick by playing a weakened team in round two and going out. But you look at them now and the way they have started, they need to get in the Champions League so I can understand why they rested players now.

But Chelsea can’t win a game for toffee. They haven’t had a hard start either, a lot of clubs would have bitten your hand off for those fixtures. Newcastle started the season against Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City and Brighton but have four more points than Chelsea.

The last thing Chelsea need to do now is go out to Brighton in the cup.

If you look at Chelsea’s fixtures, you worry for them. The next 10 games are so vital for their season that you can’t catch your breath. It’s a run where you actually don’t know when they’re going to win a football match.

So Wednesday is a huge football match. If they get beat here, they will have won three games in their last 24. One was against Luton and you don’t know when they will win a game. One was against AFC Wimbledon in the cup and they got over the line in that one. And the other one was against Bournemouth in the league last season but only after Bournemouth got enough points to stay up.

Even Mauricio Pochettino is coming out and is now saying: ‘It’s a process, you have to be patient’. When a manager comes out and says that, it shows they are starting to get a bit panicky. Even he doesn’t think it was meant to be like this.

If he is saying that already, it’s a worry. I hope he gets that patience and time, they have injuries too. But I’m worried.

Arsenal may need Toney…