We Ain't Got No History

After an extended international break, Chelsea are at long last back in action tonight, as we take on Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge. It’s the latest edition of this classic, one-sided, and often quite dramatic rivalry, which is generally good money for a Chelsea win with a fun helping of schadenfreude on the side.

Obviously, a win is never actually guaranteed, and given the state of these two teams, you would indeed have to be a bold bettor to pick any outcome with any certainty. Chelsea begin the day back down in sixth after wins earlier this week by both Manchester City and Newcastle United, so it’s imperative for our Champions League hopes that we finish the day back in fourth with a win.

Date / Time: Thursday, April 3, 2025, 20.00 BST; 3pm EDT; 12:30am IST (next day)

Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6

Referee: Craig Pawson (on pitch); Jarred Gillett (VAR; no semi-automated offside yet)

Forecast: The weather’s been ridiculously nice all week — sunniest March on record! — and it will be the warmest, brightest, sunshiniest yet

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)

Chelsea team news: The big news and the good news is that all three of Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, and Noni Madueke have been passed fit and should be set to play a part in this one. I’m guessing Jackson and Palmer will both start and Noni will come off the bench. Malo Gusto has also been removed from the injury list, though his brief absence prior to the international break didn’t really garner much coverage.

The less big and certainly less good news is that Roméo Lavia has once again picked up some sort of ailment (any bets on hamstring?), ruling him out for at least this game, and, if history is any guide, probably for a bit longer beyond that as well. Lavia has managed just three appearances in the last four months.

Marc Guiu is our only other absentee, which means that we’re the healthiest we’ve been in several months. Enzo Maresca has pointed to that as an excuse/explanation for our drop in form during that time; no more excuses!

Spurs team news: Ange Postecoglou somehow remains in charge still of Spurs, despite them languishing in 14th place. They have not finished in the bottom half of the table since 2007-08 (11th) and would match their worst league finish since 1994. In the league, they have just four wins since Thanksgiving (17 games), three of wins came back-to-back-back in February.

But hey, that’s (probably) good news for us, since Ange isn’t going to sit back or spring a tactical surprise that would create a pre-game headache for the Chelsea coahng staff.

Another development that should favor the Blues is the absence via injury of Dejan Kulusevski, who joins the likes of Richarlison and Radu Dragusin on the sidelines. Lucas Bergvall will be a gametime decision.

View from the enemy: Cartilage Free Captain

It’s been an extra-long international break with Chelsea not in action over the weekend in the FA Cup, and that has hopefully allowed us to fully recover and refocus for the two main tasks ahead in the final two months of the season: finish in the top four/five of the Premier League, and win the UEFA Conference League.

It’s the former that will concern us this week, with a Thursday night match against Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge. Coming off of the defeat against Arsenal just prior to the break, it will be doubly, if not quadruply imperative that we beat Spurs.

Quite helpful in that task could be the returns from injury of Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, and Noni Madueke, all three of whom have been back to training this week. We can probably safely assume that at least Palmer will be fit to start, with the other two hopefully ready for at least limited action off the bench.

Choose wisely!

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With Aston Villa pulling out of any deal to sign Axel Disasi, Tottenham Hotspur are apparently back in for one last attempt to convince the 26-year-old center back to join them today, before the transfer window slams shut at 11pm local time.

Disasi had rejected Spurs after are historically infrequent trading partners have actually sat down to negotiate with us and even agreed a loan for the rest of the season.

Disasi had very much wanted to go to Villa, but Chelsea didn't want to strengthen a direct top-six rival, which is certainly understandable. So perhaps he will see the light? Wait, that's not how that song goes!

Of course just because Spurs are asking again, it doesn't mean that Disasi will now say yes. Choose wisely!

Axel Disasi’s situation has just gotten a bit more interesting as we head into transfer deadline day.

The 26-year-old defender has agreed personal terms with Aston Villa over a loan move, but Chelsea are not too keen on that given that Villa are direct rivals for a top-four/-six spot.

Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur, in their absolute desperation for any able-bodied defender, have actually sat down at the negotiating table with Chelsea, and even agreed a loan deal for the rest of the season ... but Disasi himself is not too keen on that and it doesn’t sound like he’s willing to agree to terms with Spurs.

Proper Chels?

Spurs fielded a team earlier today (Sunday) without a recognized center back, and are still looking to bring in one more after signing Kevin Danso on loan from RC Lens. Perhaps they can convince Disasi to change his mind as I doubt we’re going to relent on the Villa stance.

Chelsea have been stalling over Axel Disasi’s agreed loan move to Aston Villa, and one of the reasons behind that may be that we’re waiting to see if other, perhaps better offers arrive in these final few days of the transfer window.

I’m not sure this would qualify as a better offer, but it certainly would be more amusing (and would not be from a direct top-six rival). According to various reports today, including from The Telegraph, Tottenham Hotspur are “considering” an approach if their attempts to sign former Chelsea Academy standout Fikayo Tomori from AC Milan fall through. (Don’t do it, Fik!)

Spurs are having an hilariously terrible season under Ange Postecoglou and are currently sitting 16th, below even Everton at the moment. Injuries have played a major role in their struggles, especially combined with Big Ange’s tactical sillinesses, and center back Radu Drăgușin could be the latest to miss significant time with a knee injury, necessitating this late-window scramble at the position.

Chelsea are said to be looking for a transfer or a loan-obligation with Disasi ideally, or at least a “significant” loan fee, so perhaps we can squeeze that out of Spurs?

Palmer had gone a whole five (5!) games without a Man of the Match; he chose the perfect time to end that veritable drought. Teams can stick as many players as they want on him, he’s going to find a way to influence the match.

But even if he had done nothing else, that Panenka for his second penalty would have been fairly legendary in the annals of this long-standing rivalry between Chelsea and Tottenham. Cole probably wasn’t thinking about any of that, he just let his instincts take over.

Enzo Fernández is enjoying his best spell yet in a Chelsea shirt; long may that last.

Sancho has finally discovered that you are in fact able to take shots in this game of football that we all love.

“I’ve been working on my shooting a bit more.”

-Jadon Sancho; source: BBC MotD

vs. SPURS (PL, A, W 4-3)

EXCEPTIONAL (9.0+): —

EXCELLENT (8.0-8.9): Palmer (8.8), Enzo (8.2), Sancho (8.2)

GOOD (7.0-7.9): Caicedo (7.5), Lavia (7.2)

AVERAGE (6.0-6.9): Neto (6.9), Gusto (6.7, sub), Colwill (6.2), Jackson (6.2)

POOR (5.0-5.9): Nkunku (5.9, sub), Madueke (5.8, sub), Veiga (5.6, sub), Félix (5.5, sub), Badiashile (5.5), Cucurella (5.4), Sánchez (5.0)

BAD (4.0-4.9): —

TERRIBLE (3.0-3.9): —

OVERALL

An absolute disaster of an opening ten minutes saw Chelsea go two goals behind, with slips from Marc Cucurella allowing Brennan Johnson in twice, and Spurs not asking questions about how, when, or why.

Chelsea were clearly rattled, but a nice goal from Jadon Sancho settled us back down — though mistakes in possession remained frequent and the game just became more of a back-and-forth affair with chances at either end.

The Blues made a much better start to the half, exerting control and pressure and only some excellent goalkeeping kept Spurs ahead.

But there was nothing Fraser Forster could do against Cole Palmer from the spot, after Moisés Caicedo burst into the box to win a clear penalty.

Having equalized, and survived a moment of ill-focus that led to a 1-v-1 from Son, Chelsea pressed for the lead. And we didn’t have to wait too long, Enzo Fernández lashing one in with this left foot — Palmer instrumental in setting that up.

And then the icing on this most wonderful cake arrived, with Palmer winning a penalty, which he then dispatched with a delightfully cheeky Panenka.

Winter is coming, baby.

Spurs got a late consolation, but thankfully they ran out of time to do anything more.

Carefree.

Just one change from last weekend, and that enforced by injury, with Badiashile coming in for Fofana

That gameplan scrapped at halftime with Gusto coming on for Lavia

Third goal in the last four games for Enzo

Palmer now on 11 league goals

Neto suspended for the next league game (Brenford) after getting his fifth yellow

Imagine going to a football game just to throw trash at players

Chelsea move two points clear of Arsenal who dropped points earlier today, and close to within four points of league-leaders Liverpool, whose game was called off due to weather

Next up: Astana waaaay away in the Conference League

KTBFFH

It’s another big test for this young Chelsea, a big rivalry match away against Spurs. We’re in good form, they’re in bad, but you never know in these types of games.

Enzo Maresca has selected a familiar-looking lineup, going for the same setup as against Aston Villa last weekend, except for the injured Wesley Fofana being replaced by Benoît Badiashile.

Here we go!

Tottenham Hotspur starting XI:

Forster | Pedro Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Bissouma, Sarr, Kulusevski, Johnson, Solanke, Son (c)

Substitutes from: Austin, Spence, Dragusin, Reguilón, Gray, Bergvall, Maddison, Werner, Lankshear

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

Sánchez | Cucurella, Colwill, Badiashile, Caicedo | Enzo (c), Lavia | Sancho, Palmer, Neto | Jackson

Substitutes from: Jörgensen, Tosin, Disasi, Gusto, Veiga, Dewsbury-Hall, Madueke, Félix, Nkunku

Date / Time: Sunday, December 8, 2024, 16.30 GMT; 11:30am EST; 10pm IST

Venue: New Three Point Lane, N17

Referee: Anthony Taylor (on pitch); Jarred Gillett (VAR)

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

Streaming: Sky Go (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Disney+ Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)

LIVE BLOG

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

Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernández, and Roméo Lavia have started just two games together as a trio. The first one, our opening day defeat against Manchester City, didn’t go so well. The second one, last weekend’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa, was much better.

Head coach Enzo Maresca hinted that we might see that Villa setup more often going forward — Caicedo at nominal right back, Lavia and Fernández starting as the pivot; Caicedo then inverting and Enzo pushing forward — though for now, the WAGNH Community’s votes don’t quite support that yet.

Instead, it’s a more traditional look, with actual full backs and Enzo pushing into the attacking line. That may be a bit too standard for the manager, but we’re still just learning the methods to his madness. (And Maresca seems unlikely to play Palmer at right wing, but I’m just going by the percentages.)

Sánchez (66%) | Cucurella (96%), Colwill (98%), Badiashile (54%), Gusto (60%) | Lavia (71%), Caicedo (97%) | Neto (83%), Enzo (78%), Palmer (97%) | Jackson (95%)

Among the subs, Madueke and Sancho match each other with 45%, while Tosin gets a decent 32%.

The weather has been a bit frightful, but Chelsea’s winter has been quite delightful so far, with four wins on the bounce and seven unbeaten in all competitions. This time of year has proven a great hurdle for many a Chelsea manager in years past, even before Game of Thrones made us all weary of the coming of winter, but things are looking pretty good at the moment.

That can always change and change rather quickly in football, especially in a rivalry game.

It’s been a strange old season at Tottenham, who are among the highest scoring teams in the league and have one of the better defenses — in fact, their goal difference is good for fourth best — and yet they sit midtable with as many losses as wins. And with just one win in their last six in all competitions, the pressure’s starting to ratchet up on Ange Postecoglou, who took charge of his 50th Premier League match midweek.

He will want nothing more than a big win over Chelsea, so let’s not give him that reprieve.

Date / Time: Sunday, December 8, 2024, 16.30 GMT; 11:30am EST; 10pm IST

Venue: New Three Point Lane, N17

Referee: Anthony Taylor (on pitch); Jarred Gillett (VAR)

Forecast: Storm Darragh will have largely passed, but remnants of it (wind, rain) will remain

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

Streaming: Sky Go (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Disney+ Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)

Tottenham team news: Spurs may have just one win in six, but that one win was against Manchester City — that may not be saying much at the minute given City’s horrendous form, but a 4-0 win at the Etihad is a tremendous result regardless of circumstance. In fact, two of Spurs’ last three wins in all competitions have come against City. Making sense of recent defeats to Ipswich Town and AFC Bournemouth then is a tougher proposition, but fingers might be pointed at injuries as well as Postecoglou’s still-staunch and still-ridiculous refusal to ever change his approach.

That might be helped by the return of Cristian Romero from injury, who might be well advised that hair-pulling is correctly punishable with red cards these days, now that Mike Dean is no longer a danger to the VAR room. However, Ben Davies and Micky van de Ven remain out, and are joined by the likes of Rodrigo Bentancur, Wilson Odobert, and Richarlison. Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario recently underwent ankle surgery as well.

Obviously, Spurs carry plenty of threat still, even with Son Heung-min having a subpar season. James Maddison is back to being influential, Brennan Johnson is having a career year (10 goals already in all competitions to lead the team), and ex-Chelsea Academy goal machine Dominic Solanke has led the line capably. Our good buddy Timo Werner is also still around, though with just 1 goal in 17 appearances.

View from the enemy: Cartilage Free Captain

Chelsea team news: With Liverpool’s game postponed due to weather, Chelsea could end the weekend just four points off the top and starting to separate ourselves a bit in the top-four/six race. Any title-talk may be well premature, but expectations should certainly be set for Champions League qualification as we navigate our way through the busy festive fixtures period.

Enzo Maresca made seven changes midweek, resting the likes of Nicolas Jackson, Roméo Lavia, and Levi Colwill, but Moisés Caicedo and Cole Palmer will likely be making a third start this week and that’s a scenario that we’ve generally avoided this season entirely — even if Caicedo’s energy levels may be unmatched and Palmer can single-handedly win any game.

Maresca did confirm that Robert Sánchez will be back in goal after Filip Jörgensen got his first ever Premier League start on Wednesday, and the head coach also hinted that we might be seeing Caicedo at nominal (inverting) right back more often after that experiment paid off against Aston Villa last weekend.