Key events
Chelsea 0-0 Wolves
Half-time: Well, now. Quite how Wolves have made it to half-time without coneding is anyone’s guess but they’re still in this game, albeit hanging by a thread. Sam Johnstone has made a couple of good saves to keep them in the match and Chelsea have had a corner cleared off the line, but the home fans are not happy. They boo their players off the pitch with the scores still level after 45 minutes.
45+3 min: Joao Gomes concedes a fre-kick about 35 yards from his own goal with a foul on Joao Pedro. The ball’s slipped short to Malo Gusto, who lofts into the Wolves penalty area. It’s headed clear and referee Andrew Kitchen blows for half-time.
44 min: Joao Pedro drags a shot wide of the left upright from the edge of the area after a blocked shot breaks his way. He should have hit the target and doesn’t he know it? The Brazilian sends a volley of loud ‘effs” and “jeffs” sailing into the night sky over Stamford Bridge.
42 min: A low Hugo Bueno cross from the left is intercepted by Gusto, who gets enough on the ball to prevent it makoing it’s way to the six-yard box but not enough on it to put it out for a corner. Excellent defending, I suppose.
40 min: Gusto limps to the touchline but seems fit to continue. Chelsea win a corner, which Wolves head clear.
37 min: Copy + paste: Chelsea continue to press and probe on the edge of the final third as Wolves drop back and keep all 11 of their players behind the ball. The visitors have done well to repel Chelsea thus far but you can almost hear the loud creaks emanating from the massed ranks of their defence.
Malo Gusto is lying on the floor pounding the turf in pain after what looked like a nothing-challenge/coming-together with Joao Gomes. There’s a break in play as the Chelsea right-back receives treatment. I’m not sure what happened to him but he looks to be in a lot of pain.
33 min: Chelsea continue to press and probe on the edge of the final third as Wolves drop back and keep all 11 of their players behind the ball. The visitors have done well to repel Chelsea thus far but you can almost hear the loud creaks emanating from the massed ranks of their defence.
31 min: Jorgen Strand Larsen wins a corner for his team when what looked like a very half-hearted effort to square the ball to Hwang Hee-chan was blocked by a Chelsea defender. Nothing comes of it, as Robert Sanchez catches the inswinger.
29 min: Garnacho tries to curl a shot goalwards from just outside the Wolves penalty area but his shot is blocked.
27 min: Joao Pedro makes a darting, beautifully timed run in behind the Wolves defence in a bid to latch on to a lofted Caicedo seven-iron from deep. There’s a mite too much welly on the pass and Sam Johnstone is first to the dropping ball.
26 min: The deadlock remains intact for now but one suspects that when – rather than if – Wolves concede, this could turn into a bloodbath.
22 min: Wolves goalkeeper Sam Johnstone is forced into a double save from Garnacho’s shot from a tight angle and an Enzo Fernandez shot from distance on the follow-up. Moments later, Tchatchoua clears one off the line for Wolves as Fernandez almost scores directly from a corner.
21 min: Jean-RIcner Bellegarde and Cucurella go down in a tangle of limbs and Chelsea win a free-kick wide on the left in a good position. They take it short and quickly … and quite frankly, it’s a bit of a waste.
19 min: Jackson Tchatchoua tries to hoy a cross from the right into the Chelsea penalty area from the right flank but it takes a big deflection off Cucurella and the hosts are able to clear their lines.
18 min: Chelsea continue to pile on the pressure but Malo Gusto’s latest delivery into the Wolves penalty area is headed away by Santiago Bueno.
14 min: Wesley Fofana canters upfield with the ball at his feet before losing possession and prompting a Wolves counter-attack which comes to naught when the young French defender gets back to put a stop to Jorgen Strand Larsen’s gallop.
Should Chelsea win today, they will get three points, 44 fewer than Fofana has on his driving licence after his latest court appearance for yet another offence behind the wheel.
11 min: There appear to be seven or eight Enzo Fernandezes on the pitch and one of them plays a sensational pass up the inside left to Garnacho from deep. The Spaniard’s pull-back from the byline into the penalty area is intercepted and cleared.
9 min: Liam Delap has a shot blocked on the edge of the Wolves penalty area after having the ball played to his feet by Fernandez. Wolves are on the ropes and getting pummeled already.
7 min: After good work by Malo Gusto down the right, the ball breaks to Cucurella, who shoots goalwards. Enzo Fernandez stoops to try and divert the shot past Johnstone but sends his effort wide.
6 min: It’s all Chelsaea early doors, with Wolves struggling to get the ball out of their own half. Garnacho and Marco Cucurella combine down the left before switching play to the right wing. Pedro Neto slings a cross into the Wolves penalty area but it’s headed clear.
4 min: Sam Johnstone is forced into action again, as Fernandez plays a beautifully weighted pass into the path of Alejandro Garnacho, who should have done better.
3 min: Chelsea win a free-kick just outside the Wolves penalty area on the left-hand side. Enzo Fernadez whips the ball goalwards and it’s bound for the top corner but Sam Johnstone palms it away for a corner. Nothing comes of the set-piece, which is taken by the former Wolves legend Pedro Neto.
Chelsea v Wolves is go …
1 min: Wolves get the ball rolling, still looking for their first win of the season. Their players are in their customary kit of Old Gold shirts, black short and old gold socks. Fun fact: they changed their shirts to that colour some time in the 1950s, all the better for their players to stand out ifrom opponents in matches broadcast on black and white TV.
Remembrance Sunday: Ahead of kick-off, there’s some organised pomp and ceremony by assorted military folk to remember the fallen ahead of Remembrance Sunday tomorrow. There’s a minute’s silence, followed by a rendition of the Last Post. Unsurprisingly, the solemnity of the occasion is impeccably observed by all present.
Not long now: After that cracking match between Sunderland and Arsenal, Chelsea and Wolves have a hard act to follow to justify their top billing on today’s Premier League bill. The teams are out on the Stamford Bridge pitch and kick-off is just a few minutes away.
Full time: Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal Sunderland continue to put the Black Cats among the Premier League pigeons by taking a thoroughly deserved point from their home match against Arsenal, who now lead the table by seven points from Manchester City and tonight’s hosts. City have a game in hand, host Liverpool tomorrow and will reduce the deficit to four if they can beat the reigning champions.
Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal: They’re still playing at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland substitute Brian Brobbey has just outmuscled Gabriel to score an acrobatic equaliser in the fourth minute of added time. Oof!
James Collins: “We were determined not to [approach the game like] it’s a week’s holiday and then a new manager comes in,” said the Wolves interim coach. “We had to make sure that we prepared properly for the game this weekend. It’s a Premier League game that can be won. That was the message to the players, and they’ve responded brilliantly. They’ve been unbelievably receptive to what we’ve done with them.”
On the departure of Vitor Pereira: “Vitor and his staff were brilliant with me, they welcomed us to watch training, they welcomed us to be around it and they welcomed us into meetings. They were enthusiastic about the U21s, and getting players through. I can’t speak highly enough of them; they were brilliant people and good coaches.
“Sometimes in football, it is dictated by results and in the end, if you keep losing you lose your job. They understand that, but they did their job diligently. Great people and they treated me with great respect. I wish them well.”
Enzo Maresca: Wayne Rooney can’t say anything right for saying something wrong at the moment and was set up for an ambush by Virgil van Dijk, whose leadership qualities he recently criticised, while working as a pundit on Amazon Prime on Tuesday. Following Chelsea’s draw at Qarabag in a game they could have lost at the death, Rooney questioned Enzo Maresca’s rotation policy. The subject of Rooney’s criticism was raised at the Chelsea manager’s press conference yesterday.
“We are in a moment, in an era, when anyone can say what they want,” he said. “I completely respect that. I also said after the Qarabag game that, since I joined the club, it’s also my view to rotate players, and no-one complained. And the moment that you don’t win games, I can understand no-one is agreeing.
“I think that when the rotation is Andrey Santos, Brazil international player; Jorrel Hato, Holland international player; Estevao, Brazil international player it’s not about rotation. They are good, talented and young. For sure, when they are young, you have to give them the chance to make some mistakes to be better.”
Tonight’s match officials
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Referee: Andrew Kitchen
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Referee’s assistants: Adrian Holmes and Wade Smith
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Fourth official: Anthony Taylor
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VAR: Darren England
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Assistant VAR: Craig Taylor
Those teams: James Collins makes four changes to the Wolves side that got thumped by Fulham last weekend. Joao Gomes and Andre come into midfield, with Marshall Munetsi and the suspended Emmanuel Agbadou dropping out. Hwang Hee-chan is in for Jhon Arias, who ius struggling to adapt to life in the Premier League, while Jackson Tchatchoua replaces KiJana Hoever.
Following Enzo Maresca’s midweek Champions League tinkering, the Chelsea head coach picks more or less the same team that saw off Spurs last weekend. Back from suspension, Liam Delap comes in for Reece James, but is highly unlikely to line up at right-back or in the midfield role James filled at Spurs. No, Delap will spearhead Chelsea’s attack with Joao Pedro behind him in the No10 role, while Enzo Fernandez drops further back. Having said that, I would like to see Delap playing at right-back as punishment for his daft sending-off in Chelsea League Cup win over Wolves the week before last.
Chelsea v Wolves line-ups
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Neto, Joao Pedro, Garnacho, Delap.
Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin, Hato, Acheampong, James, Santos, Gittens, Estevao, Guiu.
Wolves: Johnstone, Tchatchoua, S. Bueno, Krejci, Toti, H. Bueno, Andre, J. Gomes, Bellegarde, Hwang, Strand Larsen.
Subs: Sa, Munetsi, Wolfe, Arias, Arokodare, Mosquera, Chirewa, Hoever, Mane.
Early team news
Wolves are without central defender Emmanuel Agbadou, who has to sit this match out through suspension after getting sent off in his side’s 3-0 defeat against Fulham last weekend. Yerson Mosquera, who came off the bench and scored an own goal in that game, could come in for the Ivorian. Matt Doherty and Rodrigo Gomes are both injured and will miss today’s game.
Chelsea have lost midfielder Romeo Lavia to another injury after the Belgian was forced off the pitch with a thigh issue shortly after kick-off in their match against Qarabag. Levi Colwill, Cole Palmer, Benoit Badiashile and Dario Essugo are also sidelined.
Pedro Neto is expected to be available for selection after missing the trip to Baku with a minor niggle, while one or both of Jorrel Hato and Tosin Adaraybiyo are almost certain to make way following their less than stellar showing in the heart of Chelsea’s defence in Azerbaijan. In Josh Acheampong, Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana, they have a trio of potential replacements .
Premier League: Chelsea v Wolves
Mutinous fans, no head coach, bottom of the table without a win to show for their opening 10 matches and already eight points from safety, Wolves arrive at Stamford Bridge in an extremely sorry state. Following the dismissal of Vitor Pereira last Sunday, their Under-21s coach James Collins will take interim charge of today’s game, assisted by his Under-18s counterpart James Walker.
Rob Edwards continues to be linked with the vacant position at Molineux. His current employers Middlesbrough rejected an approach for his services from Wolves on Thursday but have resigned themselves to losing him and granted him permission to speak to the Molineux hierarchy. A former Wolves player, Edwards was not present to take Boro training yesterday and was stood down by the club for this afternoon’s win over Birmingham City. Only time will tell whether his apprently inevitable arrival at Wolves is a step up, down or sideways for the 42-year-old who already has one relegation from the Premier League on his CV.
Today’s match could be a baptism of fire for Collins, who has previously worked as the club’s assistant coach under Julen Lopetegui. He takes a demoralised team to Stamford Bridge to go toe-to-toe with a Chelsea side who thrashed Tottenham in as emphatic a 1-0 win as you will ever see last weekend, before being held by Qarabag in their midweek Champions League assignment in Baku. Kick-off at Stamford Bridge is at 8pm (GMT) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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