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HALF TIME: Chelsea 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
It’s hard to know who’ll be happier with that. Spurs have been the better side, but they’ve not scored when on top. Chelsea haven’t been good, but the weight of history remains on their side.
45 min: There will be no additional time. It’s almost as though the referee has been dreaming of hot fluffy towels.
43 min: Hato slips a free kick down the Chelsea left for Neto, whose shot-cum-cross is snaffled easily enough by Kinsky. Both teams could do with the half-time whistle and a chance to reset.
41 min: Henderson doesn’t beat the first man, his old Liverpool mucker Robertson.
40 min: Caicedo snaffles a loose Van de Van upfield pass and sends Chelsea on the attack down the right, Rogers winning a corner. Henderson comes over to take …
39 min: The xG so far: Chelsea 0.15, Spurs 0.34. Goalless seems about right, then.
37 min: Palmer releases Rogers into the box on the left. Kinsky parries the low drive. Again the flag pops up for offside. Spurs now threatening to concede, having spent so long in the ascendency without reward. A story as old as time.
36 min: Kinsky’s awful pass out is intercepted by Neto, who tees up Henderson on the edge of the box. Henderson aims for the bottom right. Kinsky redeems himself with a fine save, then kicks away Neto’s attempt from a tight angle on the right. The flag pops up for offside.
34 min: The Stamford Bridge faithful are muttering pensively. Their side have been broadly awful. “That Marmoush effort should put a cap on the weekly promising first thirty minutes from Tottenham,” argues Sean Orlowicz. “Chelsea coast to a 2-0 win from here.”
32 min: Marmoush barges his way down the middle, having spun Lacroix with absurd ease. He slips in Tel, whose shot from an angle on the left is smothered by Penders. The flag goes up for offside anyway. Chelsea are being given the runaround at present. SPurs need to score when they’re so much on top.
31 min: Tel drives at Acheampong yet again. Acheampong looks around anxiously for support that doesn’t arrive. Tel reaches the box and finds Kudus on the underlap. Kudus squirts a shot from a tight angle straight into the hands of Penders.
30 min: Spurs should be leading. Robertson barrels down the left like it’s 2018 again. He one-twos with Tel, then cuts back for Marmoush, free on the penalty spot. Marmoush slams his shot straight at Penders, who should never be given the chance to make the save he makes. What a miss. What a run by Robertson, whose legs haven’t gone quite yet!
28 min: Robertson sends a speculative ball down the inside-left channel. Penders comes out of his box to clear, and does so, but not in a particularly convincing style, nearly slapping the ball into the path of Marmoush.
27 min: Spurs have enjoyed 70 percent of possession so far. They’ll be delighted with this so far.
26 min: Tel nips into the Chelsea box from the left but goes over Neto’s leg far too easily. He’s not getting the spot kick he wants. “It’s good to see each team playing in their first choice colours. A pleasant change.” Terry Monks, there, who can also speak for me.
25 min: Tel makes good down the left but nobody attacks the dangerous cross he delivers. He should go out for a pint with Palmer and swap war stories.
23 min: Marmoush takes Colwill’s knee in the coccyx. He’ll be fine to continue, but ooyah, oof, that’s gotta hurt. An understandable spot of rolling about before getting back to business.
22 min: Kinsky stands with the ball at his feet for a while, inviting some pressure before clearing. Spurs’ confidence is growing.
20 min: Maddison goes long down the left for Tel, whose mere presence forces Acheampong into the concession of a corner. The set piece finds Tel on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. He crosses long for Kudus, who takes the ball down on the other edge of the six-yard box and looks for the top left. He whips the shot wide and high. Had that been on target, Penders wasn’t getting there. It required a high-class finish, but it was a chance nonetheless.
18 min: Maddison bustles his way into the Chelsea box down the left, and has the opportunity to cross low, but hesitates and ends up running the ball out for a goal kick. Spurs may soon decide that their best means of defence is attack.
17 min: … and by way of illustrating that, Sky flash up a stat which shows Chelsea have already made 33 pressures in the Spurs final third.
16 min: One corner from the left leads to another. Kudus faffs around with the ball on the edge of his own area and nearly loses possession, which would be super-costly with three blue shirts lurking, but the ball fortunately deflects back to Kinsky. Spurs are beginning to struggle with the Chelsea press.
14 min: Neto refuses to give up a lost cause, closing down Fernandes near the right-hand corner flag. He steals the ball off the dozing Spurs midfielder, then feeds Palmer, who looks for the top-left corner with a curler. Kinsky is forced to tip out for a corner.
13 min: Chelsea butcher the free kick, Palmer trying to release Rogers into the box with a gentle wedge. It doesn’t work.
12 min: Tonali has a grab of Henderson’s shirt, then clanks into Quenda. A free kick in a central position, 30 yards out. Before it can be taken, Xabi Alonso takes the opportunity to call his keeper Penders over, giving him some beneficial advice. What’s he spotted?
11 min: Palmer looks long for Neto down the right. Robertson does very well to keep up in a footrace, and his eventual slide challenge pings back off the Chelsea man for a goal kick. Robertson smiles broadly, though you wouldn’t back him to win too many more of those races, not these days.
9 min: Spurs have started relatively confidently given their record at this ground: in the Premier League era, they’ve won here just once, losing on 22 occasions and drawing the other 11. Just the one win in 36 years! “I’ve just worked nonstop since 1pm and am knackered,” begins Kieran McKintosh. “A football match between two sides who are questionable defensively, and where Spurs are likely to lose, is just the tonic. Let’s have it! I would ask for a red card as well, but tomorrow’s 8pm tonic between Barcelona and Real Madrid has a healthy chance of delivering that too.”
7 min: This game is being played at 101 miles per hour on a very damp and slippery surface. Slapstick shenanigans could be in the post.
6 min: Kinsky’s poor clearance is intercepted and shuttled to Palmer down the right. Palmer crosses low; Quenda doesn’t make a run at the far stick. Had he done so, he might have had a tap-in.
5 min: … Tonali tries to bring the ball down on the edge of the D, but can’t control. Spurs very wasteful with their set pieces.
4 min: Palmer clips Maddison out on the left flank. Robertson takes the free kick, and smashes it into a one-man wall, clearly trying to catch Penders by surprise at his near post. Robertson’s team-mates, who had loaded the box waiting for the crossed ball, may want a word. But Spurs are able to settle for the first corner of the game. From which …
2 min: Chelsea are kicking towards the Matthew Harding end in this first half. That’s not their usual preference, so it’s 1-0 to Spurs in a very minor way.
Knees are taken – there’s no room for racism – and then Chelsea get the match started. Stamford Bridge is noisy. Stamford Bridge expects.
The teams take to the pitch. Chelsea in blue, Spurs in white, and it won’t be long before every shirt is soaking wet. Has the signature work of the Harry J All Stars ever been so apposite? We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Roberto De Zerbi also speaks to Sky. “James Maddison is a very important player … he brings personality, qualities, experience … a different position on the pitch … he’s a different player to Conor Gallagher or [Omar] Marmoush as a number ten … we have to find him in the right moment in the best position … [Dominic Solanke] felt fatigue after Coventry … I am lucky to have a big squad with many different solutions … so I took the decision [to rest him] but the game is 90 minutes.”
Xabi Alonso speaks to Sky Sports. “João Pedro felt something in training … it’s a disappointment … [Geovany] Quenda has many qualities … he attacks the space … a goal threat … he has been training well … he has been patient … this is a big game to make his debut as a starter … we want mobility … to be fluid … he has those qualities.”
The Talk. Some more scene-setting, courtesy of our fancy new(ish) column, which this week touches on Roberto De Zerbi’s confidence in Tottenham’s medical staff, and the Zen of Xabi.
The two 3pm kick-offs have finished. Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 while Fulham won 1-0 at Coventry City. Fourth-placed Chelsea can’t go anywhere tonight, up or down, unless they win by 14 goals; Fulham’s victory, coupled with Nottingham Forest’s point at Ipswich last night, has dumped Tottenham back in the bottom three, but a draw would take Spurs up to 15th, while a win would take them into 12th, or maybe even 11th if they go large to the tune of five goals. Some of this entry has got a bit silly, yes.
Autumn almanac. It’s tipping down at Stamford Bridge; it’s cold and windy; the clocks fall back tonight. Yes yes yes. Apologies for alluding to the work of a famous Arsenal fan in a Chelsea-Spurs live blog, but what can you do? The summer’s all gone.
Tottenham also make two changes to their starting line-up, after the 3-1 win over Coventry in the Monday Night Football. Mathys Tel and Mateus Fernandes are in; Dominic Solanke drops to the bench while Tosin Adarabioyo is absent altogether.
Chelsea make two changes to their starting XI following their 2-0 win at Everton last weekend. Geovany Quenda replaces the missing João Pedro up front, while in goal Mike Penders stands in for the stricken Emi Martinez.
The teams
Chelsea: Penders, Acheampong, Lacroix, Colwill, Hato, Henderson, Caicedo, Quenda, Rogers, Pedro Neto, Palmer.
Subs: Sharman-Lowe, Palestra, Fofana, Barco, Welbeck, Gusto, Nicoll-Jazuli, Estevao, Lavia.
Tottenham Hotspur: Kinsky, Gray, van Hecke, van de Ven, Robertson, Fernandes, Tonali, Kudus, Maddison, Tel, Marmoush.
Subs: Dubravka, Senesi, Gallagher, Solanke, Kulusevski, Porro, Davies, Olusesi, Williams-Barnet.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
VAR: John Brooks
Preamble
Chelsea have won their last six Premier League matches against Tottenham Hotspur. It’s a run that goes back to February 2023. They’re also unbeaten in this particular fixture since 2018. They also have 83 wins over Tottenham, all in all, while Spurs boast just 55 victories in time. Throw in Chelsea’s far more assured start to this season, and when everything’s considered in the round, it’s kind of hard to see anything other than a home win here. Then again, Spurs played Manchester United off the park for the most part a fortnight ago, then registered their first Premier League win of the season last Monday over Coventry, so is there finally a little bit of wind in the Tottenham sail? Perhaps a crosstown stramash, in which they’re unburdened by too much expectation, is exactly what Roberto De Zerbi and his men need right now. Or will Xabi Alonso’s entertainers simply have too much in attack? It could be fun finding out. Kick-off is at 5.30pm BST. It’s on!
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