Chelsea Under-21s captain Olutayo Subuloye has travelled with the squad for tonight’s blockbuster Carabao Cup meeting with Liverpool.

Standard Sport understands the 18-year-old defender is with Xabi Alonso’s first-team squad for the high-profile last-16 meeting at Anfield on Wednesday evening.

Subuloye could well be set for a spot on the Chelsea bench as recognition for his significant progress at youth level and long-held reputation as one of the club’s top academy talents.

He first joined Chelsea from Brighton at U12 level and was converted from a midfielder into a versatile centre-back, winning plenty of silverware in the youth ranks and signing his first professional contract at Stamford Bridge in 2024 that is valid until the summer of 2030.

Top young talent: Olutayo Subuloye is Chelsea’s Under-21s captain

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Subuloye was one of the youngsters included in Alonso’s squad for their pre-season tour of Australia and Asia over the summer, but has yet to make his competitive debut for Chelsea.

Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli is also part of the group to have made the trip to Merseyside, with the 16-year-old midfield sensation looking to build his first-team experience after becoming Chelsea’s youngest-ever Premier League player when he came off the bench late on during last month’s 3-0 defeat by west London rivals Brentford.

There could also be a debut in store against Liverpool for summer signing Emmanuel Emegha, who has yet to make a single competitive appearance for Chelsea since joining from BlueCo sister club Strasbourg on a pre-agreed deal in July.

The Dutch striker scored in back-to-back behind-closed-doors friendlies against EFL opponents Crawley and Bromley during pre-season, but sustained a hamstring injury against the latter and has not featured since.

He was part of the squad for the Carabao Cup second round win over Luton back in August but did not play, while his long wait for a Chelsea debut has since been exacerbated by a setback suffered in training.

However, Alonso confirmed that Emegha would be available to face Liverpool and he has indeed made the trip as he looks to prove himself a worthy alternative to star forward Joao Pedro, who will miss the next few weeks with a thigh injury sustained before Saturday’s home loss to Tottenham in the Premier League.