Providing us with some midweek entertainment and keeping our Premier League withdrawal symptoms at bay is the League Cup - now known as the EFL Cup.

It kicks off with a bang this evening as Liverpool play hosts to Tottenham Hotspur in arguably the Round of 16's standout clash, but follows into tomorrow night when Chelsea make the relatively short trip to the London Stadium to face West Ham.

With the Premier League tougher than ever before, the competition, usually seen as the uglier sister to the FA Cup, has found a new sense of importance.

Indeed, managers like Antonio Conte will view the League Cup as an insurance policy in case the Blues slip away from the Premier League title race, whilst clubs like West Ham will deem it as their likeliest chance of silverware.

With that in mind, although some changes seem inevitable, we're expecting relatively strong lineups from the Hammers and the visitors, so tomorrow's match could well come down to which side dominates the key individual battles.

Dimitri Payet vs Nathaniel Chalobah

Of all the Chelsea youngsters, Nathaniel Chalobah appears the likeliest to get the nod in midweek. After several seasons out on loan, the 21-year-old has really taken his chance under Antonio Conte with a series of impressive cameo performances from the bench.

That being said, the deep-lying midfielder won’t have faced a test quite like Dimitri Payet before. Slaven Bilic is almost certain to call upon his talismanic entity to help inspire a win over the title-chasing Blues and nullifying his influence as much as possible will be Chalobah’s predominant duty.

That task is made even trickier by West Ham’s formation, which sees both Payet and Manuel Lanzini line up in attacking midfield. But Chalobah’s a talented youngster with a fantastic engine - so he’s got the legs to keep up with the duo's nomadic movement around the final third.

Aaron Cresswell vs Victor Moses

Victor Moses has made the right wing-back position his own in recent weeks, whilst Aaron Cresswell’s need for match sharpness suggests he’ll be called upon by Slaven Bilic after sitting out the weekend win over Crystal Palace through suspension.

Both managers are expected to stick with their 3-4-3 variations so these two will be directly up against each other on Wednesday night and with full-back (or in this case, wing-back) being one of the most important positions on the pitch nowadays, this battle could have a huge effect on the scoreline.

It’s Moses’ energy and athleticism that’s made him such a useful asset on the right-hand side, whilst Cresswell’s killer deliveries from the left render him an equally effective asset as West Ham’s left wing-back.

But as is always the case in this position, their battle will be determined by who balances their defensive and offensive obligations the best - making sure they’re always an outlet on the overlap, but not leaving too much room for the other to attack on the break.

Ashley Fletcher vs John Terry

Summer signing Ashley Fletcher’s got a pretty good chance of being called into the starting XI for Wednesday’s clash, considering the Hammers’ injury problems up top and Simone Zaza’s continued inability to find the net.

On paper, at least, the 21-year-old shouldn’t be too much of a test for John Terry, the most experienced centre-back in the Premier League, provided the Chelsea defender avoids a straight-up footrace with the former Manchester United youngster.

But due to his absence through injury, Terry’s yet to get a runout in the Blues’ new-look three-man defence and his ability to adapt to it, especially if fielded in one of the wider central roles, remains to be seen. That’s something Fletcher could take advantage of - potentially finding his first goal for the east Londoners.

Darren Randolph vs Asmir Begovic

The second-choice goalkeepers look set for a run-out this evening and with both in need of a chance to potentially usurp their respective No.1s, we could well see a competition of one-upmanship develop between the opposing sticks.

Darren Randolph was fantastic for West Ham in the cup competitions last season and indeed for Ireland at Euro 2016, whilst Asmir Begovic more than proved himself in the Premier League during five seasons at Stoke City before moving to Chelsea two summers ago.

Heroic goalkeeping performances are commonplace in knockout football and the result could well be decided by which glovesman rises to the occasion - especially if the game goes to a penalty shootout.

Michy Batshuayi vs Winston Reid

Michy Batushayi’s hardly seen the light of day since arriving at Stamford Bridge during the summer, used exclusively as a substitute in the Premier League thus far. But the Belgium forward netted twice past Bristol Rovers in the League Cup back in August and that could convince Antonio Conte to issue him another starting berth.

He’ll likely end up going toe-to-toe with Winston Reid, West Ham’s weekend hero, backline organiser and most consistent centre-half.

The New Zealand skipper’s greatest gifts remain his physicality and leadership, but Batshuayi’s impressive athleticism - boasting height, power and leap in almost equal measure - could go a long way to cancelling out the former.

That being said, getting past a three-man defence would still be quite the challenge for Chelsea’s inexperienced frontman.