We Ain't Got No History

Tottenham were never going to give Chelsea Women an easy time in a Women’s FA Cup quarter-final tie. Even with a fully-packed Kingsmeadow on a sunny Monday afternoon, Spurs weren’t afraid to take us to task whenever we made a misstep in midfield.

The hosts were still the better team on the pitch, much to Spurs’ chagrin. As the first half neared its end it felt we shouldn’t miss the opportunity to get ourselves ahead in the scoreline before heading to the tunnels. Sam Kerr felt the same way and gave us the lead with a header at the 40th minute.

At this point in time we know this Chelsea team have a really hard time holding onto slim leads. It worked tremendously last season. But this year is clearly different.

Hence the collective sigh as Tottenham found the tying goal right after the beginning of the second half via Eveliina Summanen. Not that all was lost, but it’s still a pain we inflict on ourselves seemingly every week.

While we were the better team on the pitch, Spurs couldn’t help but feel emboldened by the equaliser. They smelled victory in their vicinity and went for it with all their might.

Thankfully it just wasn’t meant to be for them. With her first ever Chelsea goal, young defender Veerle Buurman got us the lead and the semi-final spot

Carefree!

Very strong starting lineup today.

Sam Kerr’s still got it.

On to the semi-final!

Next up: Everton away in the Women’s Super League.

KTBFFH!

With Chelsea Women out of contention in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, their focus is now solely on domestic football. Something that should bode well for our Women’s FA Cup defence as only a sequence of miracles would get us anywhere near the Women’s Super League title.

The road to the FA Cup title is simple: win three more games and the trophy is ours for a second consecutive season. But as Tottenham showed to us earlier this season, it’s much easier said than done.

Date / Time: Monday, April 6, 2026, 13:30 BST; 8:30 am EDT

Venue: Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames, UK

Forecast: Sunny with light winds

Referee: Stacey Pearson

On TV: Channel 4, TNT Sports 1 (UK); none (US); elsewhere

Streaming: HBO Max (UK); none (US)

Chelsea team news: You can’t expect to win every tie you’re in. But losing the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final to Arsenal due to abysmal refereeing on both legs will never not hurt.

To shake this loss off, head coach Sonia Bompastor won’t be able to call upon the talents of Johanna Rytting Kaneryd as the Swedish attacker picked up a calf injury during training. We also have bad news with regards to Aggie Beever-Jones and Millie Bright as both English internationals will only be fit after the upcoming international break.

Tottenham team news: Since beating London City to the Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals on penalties at the end of February, Spurs didn’t win a single game in the entirety of March. They still have a large enough cushion where three straight Women’s Super League losses kept them in the competition’s top five.

One obvious absence for this match is AFC Women’s Asian Cup winner Maika Hamano, as she’s on loan from Chelsea and thus not allowed to play against her parent club. Otherwise manager Martin Ho has no injuries to deal with in the short term.

Previously: Keira Walsh gives us the lead and the winning goal at Kingsmeadow.

A Chelsea Women team eager to rebound after losing back to back matches to fellow title contenders. It could have been a recipe for disaster, especially against a Tottenham team who have been fairly competent this season.

While we brought on the early pressure to score, it was the hosts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium who were quicker to finding their foot and threaten an opening goal. It kept Hannah Hampton sharp, with the goalkeeper making a couple of saves to keep us with a fighting chance as we figured out how to get out of our own misgivings on the pitch.

After enduring Tottenham’s barrage of shots, it was time for us to step up. It all eventually clicked on a corner kick where Keira Walsh was free in the area to get the rebound, readjust her step and shoot at goal to get us the 1-0 lead before the half.

It would have been great to not be sitting on the thinnest of margins while heading into the final 45 minutes of play. Alyssa Thompson would quickly sort this out for us by scoring on the rebound after a Sjoeke Nüsken attempt in the box.

Carefree!

It’s pretty much a 4-5-1/4-3-3 with Sjoeke Nüsken, Erin Cuthbert and Keira Walsh in midfield.

Still weird seeing Beth England in a Spurs shirt. Even weirder that she’s their captain!

Hope all is well with captain Millie Bright, who was a late substitution with an apparent injury.

Next up: Liverpool at home in the Women’s Super League.

KTBFFH!

There isn’t a moment in recent times where Chelsea Women most needed a boost like today’s. Facing Tottenham at their big stage is momentous on its own. And to have that game after back to back losses to Arsenal and Manchester City in the Women’s Super League, stakes are even higher.

Nothing else but meeting the occasion. That’s the recipe for our success this afternoon in London.

Tottenham starting eleven:

Kop | A. Nildén, Gaupset, England (c), Holdt, Vinberg, Hunt, Wijk, Summanen, Koga, Blakstad

Substitutes from: Heeps, Jackson, Bartrip, Rybrink, Ahtinen, M. Nildén, Dennis, Gunning-Williams, Tandberg

Chelsea starting lineup (4-3-3?):

Hampton | Carpenter, Bright (c), Girma, Buurman | Nüsken, Walsh, Cuthbert | Thompson, James, Kaneryd

Substitutes from: Peng, Spencer, Potter, Kerr, Shooter, Baltimore, Reiten

Date / Time: Sunday, February 8, 2026, 14.25 BST; 9:25am EST

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, UK

Referee: Abi Byrne

On TV: BBC Two (UK); none (USA); elsewhere

Streaming: BBC iPlayer (UK); ESPN+ (USA)

It’s been a while since Chelsea Women last lost back to back matches in general. In the Women’s Super League it’s an even rarer occasion, as we need to go back to the 2015-16 season to find it.

But then, what’s the purpose of lingering over this with a match just around the corner? Title chances might be thinner than a toothpick, but this doesn’t mean we’re giving up the fight just yet.

Date / Time: Sunday, February 8, 2026, 14.25 BST; 9:25am EST

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, UK

Referee: Abi Byrne

Forecast: Rain showers, but only light ones

On TV: BBC Two (UK); none (USA); elsewhere

Streaming: BBC iPlayer (UK); ESPN+ (USA)

Tottenham team news: Eight games left in the season and Spurs have already surpassed their previous term’s points record, with 26 points versus 20 in a second-to-last finish in the Women’s Super League last year. Much of it build on a strong home record, with a single loss in seven matches.

Head coach Martin Ho, who’s heading to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time in his career, will be missing former Chelsea midfielder Drew Spence as she’ll start serving a three-match suspension after getting a straight red card in their 2-1 win over West Ham last Sunday. Maika Hamano, who’s currently on loan at Spurs from Chelsea, is also unavailable due to contract terms.

Chelsea team news: Like it or not, the Blues need to get over their crushing loss to Manchester City and go on with a season with plenty left to fight for. The club have already done so, with a four-year extension to head coach Sonia Bompastor earlier this week that couldn’t be a clearer sign of how much they trust her to steady this ship.

For this trip to N17, Sonia won’t count on defender Lucy Bronze while Aggie Beever-Jones’ fitness is still being assessed. Another bit of bad news is Mayra Ramírez’s delayed recovery, with the centre-forward who was set to return to training this week having a setback.

Previously: A simple but meaningful 1-0 win right after confirming the Women’s Super League title last season.

Not only is Moisés Caicedo excellent and impactful just about every time we play, he tends to save his very best performances for the biggest games. That’s a most wonderful habit among all the other wonderful habits he has.

Keep this up, and he will be mentioned in the same breath as Makélélé, Mikel, and Kanté.

“He’s top. In this moment, I think him with Rodri are the top best defensive midfielders probably in the world.”

-Enzo Maresca; source: NBC Sports

A captain’s performance from the Captain, fittingly coming almost exactly one year to the date from when Maresca called on him to give “more” and become a bigger leader for us.

“I think Reece is doing fantastic when he’s playing midfielder, he’s doing fantastic when he’s playing fullback, and he’s doing fantastic in terms of leadership with the players inside the changing room.”

-Enzo Maresca; source: YouTube via Reddit

Bob often faces an uphill battle in these ratings, but he just edges out Cucurella for the third spot thanks to a commanding performance in his own penalty area.

vs. SPURS (PL, A, W 1-0)

EXCEPTIONAL (8.5-9.5): Caicedo (9.2)

EXCELLENT (7.5-8.4): James (7.5), Sánchez (7.5), Cucurella (7.5)

GOOD (6.5-7.4): João Pedro (7.4), Fofana (7.2), Chalobah (7.1), Enzo (7.0), Gusto (6.7), Neto (6.5)

AVERAGE (5.5-6.4): Garnacho (6.4), Estêvão (6.4, sub), Lavia (6.4, sub), Gittens (6.0, sub), Tosin (5.9, sub)

SUBPAR (4.5-5.4): —

BAD (3.5-4.4): —

TERRIBLE (2.5-3.4): —

“I’m happy with the one-nil and with the three points, especially because we kept the clean sheet that I think it’s something that we need for the future. We knew that we are a team that, at the end, we are going to score goals, but we need to do better defensively.

“The performance was very good, on the ball and off the ball. For sure, the way we tried to press was very important, but I also think that our game against Liverpool off the ball was top game — was very good. And you need that. You need that if you want to be close to the top — you need to be defensively solid. As I said, we know that almost always we score goals, but we need also to try to concede less goals.”

Had Chelsea’s game against Wolves in the League Cup earlier this week ended right after the first half, the Blues fanbase would arrive at today’s match against Tottenham Hotspur at their turf in the Premier League with much more confidence. Our second half performance in that match managed to steal our thunder.

Under former Brentford boss Thomas Frank, this iteration of our North London rivals look and play much better than under Ange Postecoglou. They have been fighting neck and neck for a top four spot, beating the rest of the (several) teams also in the mix on slim margins. Much like us under Enzo Maresca this season.

We had a point to prove. Beyond the sake of getting three points from a direct rival to a Champions League berth next season, which suffices as a reason to do our best, we also needed to keep the winning streak at the brand new Spurs stadium going much like we did in the old one.

It was an even match-up across the pitch but in attack, where the Blues with João Pedro upfront had something to show while Spurs and Randal Kolo Muani struggled to make up for it. In the second great chance he got in the area, the young Brazilian striker got us the lead with great aid from Moisés Caicedo.

The second half was pretty much a “rinse and repeat” of the first one sans a Chelsea goal. An incredibly toothless and ever-nervous Spurs couldn’t do much in our defensive third, and Chelsea could have turned this into a full thrashing if the hosts didn’t have Guglielmo Vicario between the posts.

Carefree!

João Pedro upfront, Reece James in midfield with Enzo Fernández playing further forward.

A true striker’s goal from João Pedro.

Spurs seem to love losing their minds and getting red cards whenever they face us. You have to wonder how Rodrigo Bentancur escaped his with a full stomp on Reece’s ankle in the first half.

Next up: Qarabag away in the Champions League.

KTBFFH!

Carregando…

Welcome to the big game. Normally, we’d be quite confident of beating Spurs, regardless of circumstance. This time however, that notion feels a bit (a lot?) more tenuous. Hopefully I’m proven wrong.

Enzo Maresca has made a couple changes from last weekend, with Wesley Fofana and Malo Gusto coming in to the side — we’ll see how exactly Gusto and Reece James end up lining up — and Enzo Fernández pushing up a bit. Josh Acheampong and Marc Guiu go back to the bench.

Here we go!

Tottenham Hotspur starting XI:

Vicario | Danso, Palhinha, Bergvall, Kudus, Pedro Porro, Spence, Sarr, Bentancur, Van de Ven (c), Kolo Muani

Substitutes from: Kinsky, Xavi, Richarlison, Tel, Udogie, Romero, Johnson, Odobert, Scarlett

Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1):

Sánchez | Cucurella, Chalobah, Fofana, Gusto | James (c), Caicedo | Garnacho, Enzo, Neto | João Pedro

Substitutes from: Jörgensen, Tosin, Acheampong, Hato, Lavia, Santos, Estêvão, Gittens, Guiu

Date / Time: November 1, 2025, 17.30 GMT; 1:30pm EDT; 11pm IST

Venue: New Three Point Lane, Tottenham

Referee: Jarred Gillett (on pitch); Craig Pawson (VAR)

On TV: Sky Sports Main Event (UK); none (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); SuperSport Premier League, Canal+ Sport 3 (NGA); elsewhere

Streaming: Sky Go (UK); Peacock (USA); Disney+ Hotstar (India); Dstv Now (NGA)

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!

We had a slightly abbreviated voting period this time around, but the trend in the responses is pretty clear already.

Seven of the eleven starters have collected over 80 per cent of the vote each, while three more were right around 70 per cent. The one position up for debate was the fourth attacking player, to join the trio of Pedro Neto, João Pedro, and Estêvão.

That debate was settled by just a few percentage points, with Marc Guiu (41%) just about edging out both Alejandro Garnacho (35%) and Jamie Gittens (37%). So that would mean another try for Guiu leading the line, with JP playing off of him in a more supporting role. This didn’t really produce much against Sunderland, but perhaps Spurs won’t be packing all their players into their own box.

Roméo Lavia (31%) and Andrey Santos (14%) were the only other players to score in the double digits.