please log in to view this image Sunday 22nd December 4.30pm Premier League Tottenham Hotspur Stadium It wasn't pretty against Wolves, but the team got the job done and picked up a rare away win. After going the best part of ten months without one, picking up two in quick succession is a nice surprise. Mourinho has certainly had an effect on that, while his introduction has coincided with the reverse for Chelsea. Lampard's impressive start has hit it's first bump in the road and their form has nosedived. We all know that it means nothing in a game of this though, so can Mourinho get one over on another old club? Chelsea started the season with a transfer ban and a new coach, tempering expectations for the campaign. Frank Lampard joined from Derby, replacing the departing Maurizio Sarri after a pretty decent season. 3rd place, a League Cup final and winning the Europa weren't enough and one year was all he got. A seasoned professional was replaced by a club legend, who hadn't had a bad time himself, to be fair. A play-off final loss to Villa narrowly cost his Derby side a promotion in his debut year. An opening day hammering to Utd may have had some doubting the appointment, but it was a harsh scoreline. 12 games in and they'd only had one other loss in the league and that was to pace-setting Liverpool. 8 wins and progress in the Champions League settled everyone down and things were looking good. They've now hit a blip though, just as the transfer ban has been lifted. Four losses in five league games is a testing time for anyone. How will they react? This fixture was one of our best performances of last season and came with Chelsea on a high. Sarri was still unbeaten after 12 Premier League matches and there was justified talk of a league challenge. There was only one side in it at Wembley though, as a shocked Chelsea side went behind early. Dele Alli headed home from a free-kick after 8 minutes, then Kane added a second shortly after that. A Son wonder goal made it three and even a late consolation for Giroud couldn't take the gloss off a big win: The reverse at Stamford Bridge almost tells the story of our season, as it sums up the second half of it. A fairly toothless performance saw us rarely test Cabellero in their net, as Kepa was dropped. He'd refused to be subbed in the cup final against City and didn't start this one. Pedro gave them the lead after the break, before an own goal from Kieran Trippier finished it off. An abomination, apparently, as I can't even find highlights anywhere! Davies, Lamela and Lloris are still out, but Ndombele and Vorm return to training with the squad. Giroud, Tomori, Loftus-Cheek and van Ginkel miss out for the visitors. Neither side has any suspensions. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Gazzaniga; Aurier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Sissoko, Dier; Moura, Alli, Son; Kane. Subs: Whiteman, Foyth, Skipp, Winks, Lo Celso, Sessegnon, Eriksen. League form: DWWLWW. Chelsea: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Rudiger, Emerson; Jorginho; Willian, Kante, Mount, Pulisic; Abraham. Subs: Caballero, James, Christensen, Kovacic, Pedro, Hudson-Odoi, Batshuayi. League form: WLLWLL. Ref: Anthony Taylor. VAR: Andre Marriner. TV: Sky Sports. How would you like to line up for this one and what would you change from the Wolves game? Would you stick with the same lineup, make a couple of changes or go for a wholesale switch? Which system and tactics would you use and what are you expecting Chelsea to go with?
Sissoko and Dier in midfield doesn’t work. Neither has decent ball control and will cough it up under pressure. Chavs will come to play, I’d start Lo Celso.
This wouldn't be a matchday thread without mentioning the one and only..... Whether he played for Chelsea or not. There's only one... PAUL STEWART Merry Christmas
Tanguy’s back! But I highly doubt he’ll start at the moment. I like NSIS’s idea of Gio at CM but I just can’t see it happening, don’t think Jose trusts him enough yet so I imagine we’ll likely line up as we did against Wolves with hopefully the idea of introducing Tanguy at around 60 mins.
Same situation as Wolves. The opponent do have CM players who can hold the ball, so in this "4-2-4" formation a Dier/Sissoko combo is asking for trouble. More so given there is a bit more diversity in the Chelsky attack than 'give the ball to Traore' . I have no suggestions for the best CM two, as nobody in the squad who could play there is either suitable or PL match fit IMHO.
A risky choice but one worth suggesting: Oliver Skipp's effectively a Dier/Winks hybrid so would offer a measure of control in midfield As long as we don't go Winkssoko again...
Controlled aggression, like in any derby, and we will win this. Cant get Not606 and Sky Sports on my tablet at the same time so see you guys at H T.
Nor me but it has a certain logic. Aurier and Sissoko make an effective right back between them and that leaves Dier holding the midfield by himself and he is better than Winks or Ndombele at that. Creativity is zero outside the front four though.
I want to see a good unclean fight today. Blokes hurling themselves at each other, with sharpened studs, red cards, the lot. Have at it.
Chelsky appear to have set up expecting a blitzkrieg akin to the Burnley game. They have far more attacking options on the bench, so Spurs IMHO must have the game done and dusted by 65 mins to avoid repeats of the Spanner/ Bournemouth final 20 mins.
