LONDON (AP) -Chelsea and Arsenal continue their attempts to reach the League Cup final for a second straight season when England's second-tier cup competition resumes this week.
Chelsea seeks to carry its resurgent form into its home match against two-time winner Leicester on Wednesday, when Premier League leader Arsenal is at Sheffield United.
Former Liverpool great Robbie Fowler comes up against his old team when Cardiff visits Anfield, and Juande Ramos takes charge of his first match at Tottenham when Spurs host Blackpool.
Chelsea won both the League Cup and FA Cup last season, becoming only the second team to win both trophies in the same season. The odds on the Blues retaining at least the League Cup have improved since the club's steady rise under coach Avram Grant.
After a rocky start, the former Israel coach has guided Chelsea to five straight wins in all competitions, including Saturday's 6-0 victory over Manchester City.
"People have asked a lot of questions over the last couple of months and it has not been easy but the players we have got can perform," Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard said. "This was a reminder to ourselves that when we are on form, and on form at Stamford Bridge in particular, we can beat teams well."
That bodes ill for Leicester, which is 15th in the League Championship and without a manager following Gary Megson's move to Bolton last week.
Under temporary coach and former player Gerry Taggart, the Foxes are coming off a 2-0 win over Barnsley but are short of the kind of experience that could trouble Chelsea.
They will have good support, though. Saturday's crowd of 24,133 at Walkers Stadium was the fifth biggest in England, with only Manchester United, Chelsea, Sunderland and Birmingham in the Premier League drawing more fans.
The club will have 6,500 supporters at Stamford Bridge.
"It was fantastic to see so many supporters inside the stadium to help us during what are difficult times," Leicester chairman Milan Mandaric said. "To have registered the fifth biggest attendance in the country on the day just goes to prove once again the size and potential we have here."
Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson is looking at Wednesday's match at Bolton as an opportunity to bounce back from the heavy loss at Chelsea.
"We're lucky that we have a game on Wednesday, to turn things right," Eriksson said. "It's better to wait two or three days than a whole week for the next game."
