We Ain't Got No History

To those who have grown used to Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham throwing themselves at the opposite side of the pitch and hoping they can win matches by force and nothing else, their game plan at the Bridge was a bit out of the left field. Instead they chose to sit back, cushion the pressure and thus let Guglielmo Vicario play lifesaver every so often.

We got close to breaking his spell in the first half. But the breakthrough only came in the second one with Enzo Fernández free to head a Cole Palmer cross into the back of the net.

Although Spurs were not being as risky as usual, they were still playing dirty. At the end of the first half Cristian Romero and Trevoh Chalobah were both yellow carded as the latter came to the rescue of Levi Colwill, who had just been shoved by the former. Later on Pape Sarr got away with only a yellow card after scoring a (cancelled) goal by hitting Moisés Caicedo’s knee with his studs.

Amazingly this world-class refereeing by Craig Pawson didn’t lead to as much indiscipline as it should. All thanks to Chelsea keeping their calm to take home the full three points which will hold them up in the Premier League’s top four.

Carefree!

Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson back in the fold and in the starting lineup already.

If it wasn’t for Tottenham having a really good shot-stopper Chelsea would’ve been a goal or two in front in the first half.

Palmer is amazing, and the Enzos certainly enjoy that!

Noni Madueke also back, as a sub.

Robert Sánchez with key interventions in the second half to bring us three extremely important points.

Next up: Brentford away in the Premier League.

KTBFFH!

Chelsea are back in action tonight, and so are injured trio Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, and Noni Madueke. We’ll see if all, or any, of the three actually start against Spurs, but they all should be available for selection.

For the WAGNH Community, two of them do start, Palmer and Jackson — and that’s despite some question about their fitness status at the time of voting. But we’re desperate for some cohesive attacking play, so getting them back in as soon as possible is imperative.

Joining that duo is Pedro Neto, back on the wing, and Jadon Sancho, who edges out Madueke (24%) and Christopher Nkunku (32%) for the fourth attacking spot.

The rest of the lineup is as you’d expect, with Enzo Fernández and Moisés Caicedo in the middle, Wesley Fofana and Levi Colwill the two center backs, and Marc Cucurella and Reece James at full back. In goal, Filip Jörgensen maintains a solid 64-35 advantage over Robert Sánchez.

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!

Loading…

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!