Why VAR is not being used for Lincoln City vs Chelsea in the Carabao Cup

Video assistant referee and goal-line technology are not in use for Chelsea's Carabao Cup clash against Lincoln City. Enzo Maresca's side make the trip to the LNER Stadium on Tuesday evening looking to progress from the third round.

But they will hope that the officiating is up to scratch for the cup meeting as the equipment to utilise the technology they have become accustomed to at Stamford Bridge, in thePremier League and around Europe, is not installed at Lincoln. While the English Football League play-off finals have used VAR since 2022, League One sides such as Lincoln are not required to have the facilities to implement the technology.

Carabao Cup rule 12.6 outlines the competition's stance on technology. Only at grounds that have 'a goal line technology system installed' and/or 'such equipment as is necessary to enable the use of video assistant referees', the Management Committee of the EFL Cup are entitled to determine whether such a system should be used.

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The rules also say: "The Management Committee may also mandate the installation of temporary systems for a Semi-Final at home grounds of League Clubs."

That leaves the officials on the pitch in charge at the Imps' home for Chelsea's visit. Maresca already revealed his reservations about playing lower league opposition in his pre-match press conference.

"Even if these are the games that worry me most, because you can slip very easily in these kind of games," he explained. "Football is full of these kind of games and I am very worried about that. But for sure we have probably some players from the academy like we always have done."

The Italian coach saw academy influence in his starting XI from central defender Trevoh Chalobah and Tyrique George, who led the west London side's frontline despite Marc Guiu being eligible for the competition.

Young stars Reggie Welsh, Ollie Harrison and Shim Mheuka were named among the substitutes. Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, 16, was in attendance but not named in the matchday squad.

Maresca had suggested he would like to rest Chalobah and defensive partner Tosin Adarabioyo but has not done so. "I would love to rest both of them because they deserve to rest," he said on Monday.

"The problem is that we also have Wes Fofana playing after a long time. So if we rest Tosin, if we rest Trev, and if we rest Wes, probably I need to play some part of the game! We don't have defenders so some of them, they need to play."

Young defender Josh Acheampong was said to be unavailable due to suffering from flu. Summer signing Jarell Hato, 19, makes his second start for the Blues having made his debut against Brentford before being substituted at half-time of that game.

Alejandro Garnacho makes his first start for Chelsea after completing his summer move from Manchester United. The winger did not feature against his former club at the weekend.