Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea

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Sunday 29th November 4.30pm
Premier League
Stamford Bridge​

A successful return to the Europa League by what was largely a reserve side is something to be happy about.
Maintaining our current form in this match would be far more pleasing though, I suspect.
Both sides are at the right end of the table and we've struggled against them in recent meetings.
A weakened side put them out of the Carabao Cup earlier in the season, though.
Can Mourinho get one over on his old club and player or will Lampard have the last laugh this month?

Frank Lampard took over from Maurizio Sarri last summer, following a largely successful campaign.
They finished 3rd in the league, reached the League Cup final and won the Europa League.
The Italian manager returned to his homeland to manage Juventus, citing a desire to be closer to his parents.
A new approach was needed, due to a transfer ban, so up stepped their former player.
Harry Redknapp's nephew couldn't quite match his predecessor, but he did enough to please the fans.

This summer saw a very different approach to the youth oriented side that saw him through his first season.
Ziyech, Werner, Chilwell, Havertz and Mendy cost around £220m and it didn't stop there.
Thiago Silva and Malang Sarr also joined from France on Bosman deals.
There can be no excuses this season if Lampard doesn't produce the goods.
He's certainly got them off to a good start and it looks likely that this will continue.

Our visit to Stamford Bridge in the last campaign was one of the last pre-lockdown matches.
It was a very disappointing performance and the scoreline was rather flattering, as we came close to a draw.
Our strikerless side looked aimless and toothless, somewhat unsurprisingly, missing both Kane and Son.
Chelsea took an early lead through Giroud and Alonso made it 2-0 just after the break.
Lo Celso was lucky not to be sent off, then Rudiger put through his own net at the death:

The result and performance at our place were even more disappointing, but it will be remembered for other things.
Willian scored twice in the first half, the second coming from the spot after a mad challenge from Gazzaniga.
The second half lead to a red card for Son and accusations of racism from the crowd by Rudiger.
He was instrumental in the sending off and felt that he'd heard racial abuse in response to his playacting.
Nothing was found to support this, but it left a dark cloud over a generally bad day:

Alderweireld and Lamela will miss this one, while Lo Celso, Lloris and Bergwijn should return.
Pulisic is Chelsea's only doubt, but he should be available.
Neither side has any suspensions.

Lineups for each side's last league game:

Spurs: Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon; Sissoko, Hojbjerg; Son, Ndombele, Bergwijn; Kane.
Subs: Hart, Rodon, Davies, Lo Celso, Bale, Moura, Vinicius.
League form: WDWWWW.

Chelsea: Mendy; James, Zouma, Rudiger, Chilwell; Kovacic, Kante, Mount; Ziyech, Abraham, Werner.
Subs: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Emerson, Jorginho, Hudson-Odoi, Giroud.
League form: WDDWWW.

Ref: Paul Tierney. VAR: Craig Pawson.

TV: Sky Sports.

How would you like to line up for this one and what would you change from the Ludogorets game?
Would you stick with much of the same lineup, make a few changes or go for a wholesale switch?
Which system and tactics would you use and what are you expecting Chelsea to go with?

 

For me, this is the first serious test of the PL campaign.
Spurs do ok against Citeh in recent times, but rarely get
anything away at Chelsky

Will Spurs front up in CM (incisive forward moving attack,
DM putting in a shift) ??

 

I can remember when Chelsea were easy meat for Spurs.Unfortunately,recently the tables have been turned (with the help of millions of Roubles of course) but hopefully,Spurs appear to have regained "the taste",so go to it boys!!!!
Sad to see Toby out. It looked liked he had regained "his taste!"

 

This has always been the big one for me since they found a few Bob down the back of the sofa , as RBDB has already said this is a serious test, physically we can match them and man for man we match the skill but we need to mentally beat them , Jose has us playing like intelligent c***s let's keep it up and bring home the points , COYS

 

Toby aside I’d imagine it’ll be the same team that faced City. Jose said Lloris, Lo Celso and Bergwijn could’ve been risked in the squad last night so I presume they’re all fine for the weekend.

Bench-wise, if Rodon replaces Toby then a spot on the bench opens up for one of Doherty, Sanchez, Tanganga, Winks or Dele. In theory a CB would take it but Jose may feel that with Davies’ versatility he can pick either Doherty or one of the midfielders.

 

Jose got the EL result, with no injuries to squad regulars. < chapeau >
Unsure as to whether lightning will strike twice by having Aurier/Sissoko
both in the starting XI.

This is a game where I am desperate for a 2010-13 Bale to
currently exist (taking pts could come down to one special moment) .

 

Lo Celso picked up a knock in the warmup, which the Grauniad are making a lot of hay over

 

If Kane scores 8 or more goals today, he will go above Bobby Smith in Spurs all time scorers, only Greavsie to go. 201 v 208

 

So we get to it ...

In "season compass" terms, any loss no worse than 2-1
is "zero sum" , and any pts taken is a bonus.

However, even in defeat, the performance is critical.
IMHO an MF performance akin to the 0-2 at WHL last season,
and you can forget any PL aspirations other than a top 4 place.

 

and if Son provides at least 8 assists for those goals,
they wlll push Drogba / Lampard off the top of the PL assist pairings.

Which of the above (if they happen) , do you think
would p*ss off the Chelsky supporters most ??

 

Sounds like Hugo is 50-50 and faces a late fitness test.

****.

 

Don't care about stats , just beat them ,that will hurt them most

 

forget any PL aspirations !

 

Thank **** for that

 

Oh great, the pundits will be make approximately 38 comments about "manflu" in the buildup...

 

Sounds like Rodon is definitely going to start too and has been impressing Jose. Dan Kilpatrick and Ally Gold both mentioning it.

No pressure, lad!

 

The latter. I have a good feeling for today, (sorry RCL) but had a colonoscopy this morning and none of the cancers have returned. The procedure has been delayed since July because of Covid so I was a little worried.

So todays message for chavski is........up yer bum, up yer bum, up yer bum.