Righto, that’s us ... but the football keeps coming. Check out Wolves v Arsenal with rob Smyth.
Ach, Papa Bouba Diop has died. Forty-two is no age at all, what a tragedy that is.
Here’s David Hytner’s match report.
‘They didn’t deserve nothing,” he continues, before saying that Mourinho will win the games he needs to win. Roy Keane doesn’t think the league is winnable with the players he has, but Hasselbaink disagrees and thinks Spurs manage games well now, not something he’s ever said of them before.
“He is absolutely delighted,” says Jimmy Floyd. “He loves it.”
Mourinho says that the one thing he takes from the game is that a draw at Chelsea is normally a positive result and to stay top of the league is a positive thing, but the team is not happy. This is a “Complete change of mentality ... of personality,” he self-bastes, pausing to admire his image in the camera lens while adjusting his barnet.
He goes on to say neither team wanted to lose, especially in the last 15-20 minutes, and though his team didn’t create much, neither did Chelsea and his team ought to have scored when they had that 3v2 at the end. He says it was difficult for Rodon but he showed “good personality” and wants to go through the game with him. He mentions two mistakes – the Werner disallowed goal and the Giroud miss – that’s a bit of a rebuke really, because they were two huge oversights that might’ve cost the match – but he says he’s pleased with him.
“Went as I sort of expected,” Lampard tells Sky. He thought it’d be hard to create chances, but that his team made enough to win it. He says Lloris’ save from Mount was “world class” – steady on – but that his strikers should have done better from the crosses they were served. He’s pleased with the discipline of his team though, limiting Kane and Son to very little, and how they dominated in midfield. He goes on to say that sometimes, in tight games like that, you rely on a bit of magic from one of your special players and that wasn’t quite there today. But he won’t say if it’s a point gained or two dropped until the end of the season.
“I’ve been watching on TV and Son and Kane aren’t in the team this afternoon so you can hardly blame them for not attacking,” tweets Tom Kniggot. “Mourinho has his side on tier 3.”
I guess you could say that he had Rodon and Dier in the middle of his defence, but it’s hard to imagine him doing it differently if he had Baresi and Costacurta.
Jimmy Floyd is not happy with Abraham not making those James crosses. I guess if he knows the ball is coming, he can make the right runs, so once the team settles he’ll improve. But I’d still be playing Werner through the middle.
“I think Jose will be the happier with that,” emails Martin Gamage. “Yeah, it was conservative, but he’s moulding the side in his image. I’m quite glad to not be watching it in the flesh mind.”
The thing is, it doesn’t have to be like this. Spurs’ defence needs work, but their midfield is good enough to compete with Chelsea’s and their attack is superior.
Obviously his like I saying was nowhere near this august level. But he’s got time in his favour.
Ian Bell smashes the world “like I say” record into tiny little pieces. pic.twitter.com/qvEOJ4SACX
— Daniel Harris (@DanielHarris) August 1, 2019
Joe Rodon tells Sky that Stamford Bridge is a “tough place to come” and is happy to have made his debut. He says he got away with two mistakes, then like i say on various occasions. As for his bloody mouth, he says “It’s part of the job and I love it”. Great stuff.
“So, will either of these sides be sneaking out the back door with a grin?” wonders Andy Tuohy.
My guess is that Lampard will be really happy with a clean sheet and Mourinho will be pretty happy with the result. He knows that this season’s league will be won by beating the less good teams twice, more than it’ll be won in the big games.
On which point, I should thank Mary for switching me on to Robert Caro’s brilliant book, the Power Broker – the Europa League group stages have, at long last, yielded something good. I highly commend and recommend it to all y’all.
“Who is the happiest with this draw?” asks Mary Waltz. “Klopp. One of these sides is going to regret not going after the win and missing the title by two points to Liverpool.”
It’s hard to see it going anywhere else isn’t it? I know they’ve got injuries, but they’ve still got goals, the best manager, and the confidence that they can’t be beaten. That’s a lot.
Neither side will mind that too much as both are ahead of where they expected to be. But it’s a missed opportunity for both because both played about as badly as you could conceivably hope if you were playing them.
Full-time: Chelsea 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
A point takes spurs top, above Liverpool on goal difference; Chelsea stay third.
90+3 min Zouma squares aimlessly ... and Moura runs onto it! Spurs are three on two and Moura finds Lo Celso, who has Kane nearby ... but instead he curves a cunning but useless little effort wide. On the touchline, Mourinho chuckles and chuckles.
90+2 min THERE IS THE CHANCE! Zouma humps a looper forward and Rodon sells Lloris short, nodding directly onto Giroud’s sidefoot! But his finish is tame, easily caught by the keeper - and it was going wide.
90+2 min Another change for Spurs, Mourinho picking the man furthest away from the dug-out – Son – who doesn’t go off on the far side as per the laws, but jugs slowly over. Moura replaces him.
90+1 min There’ll be four added minutes.
90 min Rodon goes up with Big Kai Havertz and wears a flailing arm to the face. There looks to be a bit of claret in his mouth, but he’ll be fine.
89 min Mourinho makes another change, Davies on for Bergwijn. He’s happy with his point.
88 min Have a look! Kovacic bounds from just outside his own box over halfway, so Reguilon yanks him down and is booked.
88 min We’ve barely seen Son and Kane today. If that’s the result of your tactics, they’re the wrong tactics in almost every situation.
87 min Chelsea press for the winner, James lumping a cross to the back post well beyond everyone.
85 min “My ankle takes great offence at your earlier ankle-related words,” says Toon Helsen. “It was similarly twisted by a silly bike accident caused by its owner (me) when I was barely old enough to have a bevvie in the US of A. Ever since, it has not been the same and now, me on the wrong side of 25, fear it may never be its old, fearless self.”
I’m more a tendonitis man myself. For any other sufferers, I heartily recommend steroid injection, recommend acupuncture, and do not recommend blood spinning as anything other than time-killer.
83 min Havertz comes on for Ziyech, who’s had an acrylic afternoon.
82 min Aurier slips a ball in behind for Son, who crosses low, but he can’t pick out a man.
81 min Nice from Mount, dancing across the face of the Spurs box before cracking a low shot that Lloris has to shovel around the post, on the dive.
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80 min This hasn’t been very good, has it? Ultimately, both these are works in progress, though I can’t help but wonder how things might’ve gone if Spurs had been brave enough to attack. You can’t restrict the best strike partnership in the league to counters.
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79 min Here comes your late-goal man, Giroud replacing the limping Abraham. Mount puts an arm around to help him get off, which is very sweet.
78 min Spurs counter for perhaps the first time in the half and Bergwijn tries to slip a pass through the middle, but it’s intercepted, just – by Zouma I think.
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77 min Reguilon runs away from Mount, who thinks he was fouled so trips yerman from the ground. It’s really very nicely done, but is rewarded with a yellow card.
76 min “No Grealish in your team?” asks James Debens. “There must be room for that ‘Tonight, Matthew, I’m going to be David Beckham 1998’ chap. He always reminds me of the punk gremlin in Gremlins 2. Someone buy him a shiny leather jacket and McDonald’s shades. Or play Foden instead, and get actual goals.”
I really like Grealish, and he’s quite good at conjuring goals when his team really needs them, but Foden is a potential great of the generation even if his calf game isn’t as strong.
74 min Looking again at that Chilwell/Aurier collision, the former stepped across the latter and his ankle twizzled, a right sair yin. The kind of thing that if you’re 20 you run it off and if you’re 30 you struggle to run again.
73 min Chilwell and Aurier clatter one another and both go down; while they recover, Pulisic comes on, but it’s for Werner. I’m surprised by that because if I was Lampard he’s the man I’d want a chance to fall to.
72 min Kane and Gigantic Eric Dier try to gang up on Mount, but the corner is poor and Abraham heads clear.
71 min Spurs win a corner down the left, the first time they’ve ventured into the Chelsea half in quite a while, and Hojbjerg flicks on well but James squeezes Kane out at cost of another corner.
71 min Pulisic is getting ready to come on – my guess is for Abraham, with Werner moving into the middle, but I wonder how Dier and Rodon might cope marking two centre-forwards.
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69 min “Given how quickly Lo Celso scored last game, one could hardly be blamed for humming this tune,” says D Hamilton, insisting we all share his earworm.
I’ll be forming a support group.
67 min The chances are coming now. Dier drives a fine, raking pass out towards Aurier – in his internal monologue. Back on the pitch, Chilwell intercepts and scurries forward, finding Ziyech, who controls and lashes over the top.
66 min Ziyech, who’s not had a good day today, slings over another cross, but this on flies beyond the back post. Not for the first time, Gary Neville notes that if this is Chelsea’s tactic, they need to get Giroud involved.
65 min There’s Spurs’ change, Lo Celso replacing Ndombele.
64 min That was a chance! Ziyech nudges out to Werner who knocks inside and curls towards Abraham, on the move while Dier ponders his hardness. But he cant adjust feet to get a decent boot on the ball, and another opportunity sails away.
63 min “Tell you what, the final of this year’s We Absolutely Can’t Lose This One Lads Cup is a bit boring isn’t it?”
It’s a lot better than the Man United-Chelsea semi. In fairness though, Chelsea are going for this, but the cohesion isn’t there because they’re a youngish team still getting used to each other and because Spurs are decent.
62 min Yep, it’s not going how Mourinho wants and he’s going to introduce Lo Celso. I hope it’s for Sissoko but I fear it’s for Ndombele.
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61 min Chelsea have been the better side since half-time. They’ve not created much, but Spurs have offered very little on the counter – though it only takes one.
59 min “So you want Southgate to go another step further and play four right-backs in the same team?: wonders Robert Lin.
I’d go like this: Pope; James, Maguire, Mings, Saka; Rice, Alexander-Arnold, Foden; Sterling, Kane, Rashford.
58 min The ensuing free-kick yields a corner, which comes to nothing.
57 min Werner moves around Sissoko and heads for the line, having a look around to make sure yerman comes with. He knows he’s running out of space, but he also knows Sissoko is enough of a geleimpter to shove him.
56 min Lovely feet from Ndombele, shuffling the ball between them down the left touchline, inciting Zouma to give him a whack. He too is booked, and the game is beginning to register on my internal tetchometer.
54 min “Having back is indicative of sprint speed,” emails Charlie Tinsley, “so there”.
Sadly, this never applied to me.
53 min And there he is, dashing back when Reguilon gets by his outside, introducing forearm to phizog and receiving a booking for his trouble.
52 min If I were Gareth Southgate, I’d be thinking about playing Trent-Alexander-Arnold in midfield, so I could get James in a full-back. When comparing the two, the defending isn’t close and there’s not loads between them going forward, they just play in different systems,.
51 min Chelsea have changed tack here, getting the ball wide as quickly as possible and swinging it to the near post. And it’s James again, nashing down the right and swinging over a belter; again, Abraham is there ahead of Rodon, but again he can’t get a definitive touch.
50 min Ah, there’s Kovacic, and he moves away from Bergwijn who hauls him down. He’s booked.
48 min Nice from Chelsea, a clever caress from Ziyech sending Jamaes away. And his cross is a beauty, for Abraham attacking the near post, but he can’t quite a touch. In co-commentary, Gary Neville notes how much Olivier Giroud enjoys delivery of that ilk.
46 min Ziyech swings a lovely ball over to Werner, who holds off his man – unfairly says the ref, as his shot on the turn bobbles wide.
46 min “I really don’t want to start an ex-Portuguese-on-Portuguese spat here (I currently have a Middle-Eastern nationality but was for the first 36 years of my life a Portuguese national)“ begins Pedro Lambareiro, “but after 20-something years of hearing my name (Pedro sounding like ‘Pidroh’) misspelled I couldn’t stay put with the Joo-Zee thing.
The sound of the ‘o’ in both names is a sort of ‘u’ that doesn’t exist in the UK but there’s a word that comes in handy when tuga-explaining it in English: jus (silent s). So Jus-zé (with the ‘é’ like in ‘méééééé’, the sound sheep make anywhere in the world) will do the trick.”
Got it!
46 min We go again, nae changes to either team.
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How on earth did City of God win no Oscars? OK, we know exactly how, but still. The best film of this mill, “for me” and the only one to force me to the cinema twice in the same day.
“In this part of Portugal,” says Geoff Wignall, “it’s approximately, Jhoe Zay. Often abbreviated to Ze.”
Big Ze! I love that! Here’s his disciple, Little Ze.
Jimmy Floyd is also wearing a cardigan under his syoot; is this a ... uniform? Anyhow, his hat-trick in this fixture is one of the absolute greatest of all-time, so here it is.
“My father always used to comment that Geoffrey Boycott fitted into the ‘having back’ chapter, too,” says Bill Hargreaves.
Pochettino’s team were absolutely full of it. Moussa Sissoko, Vincent Janssen, Kyle Walker, Harry Kane, Mousa Dembele, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, all at the same time.
Half-time email: “Would you like to explain ‘having back?” snarks Richard Hirst. “What you say might not matter but we’d like to understand it!”
It means to have a sizeable posterior. Mark Hughes, Kenny Dalglish, Tanguy Ndombele and J-Lo all got back.
Half-time entertainment: let’s see if we can summon it up together.
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This has gone more or less as expected, Chelsea pushing and Spurs seeking to counter. Which is to say that Mourinho will be relatively happy, expecting to score at some point and ultimately satisfied with a draw, while Lampard has thinking to do.
Half-time: Chelsea 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Not loads to report here.
45 min There’ll be one added minute.
45 min “Just seen a misplaced pass into the blue advertising hoardings, with blue covered seats behind, by Chelsea, wearing blue, all with white trim,” notes Hugh Molloy. “Whilst it’s not Man United’s invisibly grey kit from back in the day, I still wouldn’t fancy easily spotting a team mate.”
Yes, I can see that. Chelsea should be in skins.
43 min I’d also think about moving Ziyech infield. on the one hand, there’s more space out wide, but on the other he’s not getting on the ball often enough. Here he is now though, beating one man, and he could go on but opts to cross – to no avail. Spurs wanted him to do that, and are set up to defend that – Chelsea need to be cuter.
42 min I’ve probably said this plenty of times previously, but what is Kovacic doing out there? What is he meant to be doing out there? I don’t get it, and I’m almost certain that Chelsea would be creating more with Havertz and Mount playing as number eights.
41 min Abraham looks in good touch and an adroit flick sends Werner scooting away. But the ball has to move to the other flank for the cross to be sent in, and Abraham attacks it but Rodon is there with him and does enough.
39 min “Just don’t like the sound of Juicy Mourinho, sorry” says Paul Dorning.
I’d not thought of it before, but the velour tracksuit industry missed a right trick in the first decade of this century.
38 min Abraham does well to win the ball and find Kante, who sends it out wide to Ziyech. He quickly swipes a cross into the middle but Abraham, on the run, has to flap and contort just to force a limb onto it, diverting wide.
36 min Chelsea need more of what we’ve just seen: Abraham finding space and Chilwell deep inside the Tottenham half.
35 min Better from Chelsea, Abraham isolating Dier down the right side of the box and cleverly shifting him back and forth before creating the space to get by on the outside. He then powers along the by-line and forces a corner, and when it and the ensuing cross are improperly cleared, Chilwell races onto the bouncing ball to lash well over the top.
33 min “Pedants Corner,” says B Davis. “In fact the Portuguese pronunciation of the name José is not exactly ‘Joe-Zay’, because the first letter actually makes the sound that is the middle of ‘vision’ for example. The ‘o’ of José is short, as in ‘orange’, not a diphthong like the ‘oe’ in ‘Joe’.”
I love the word dipthong but it really should be an insult as in “Yeah, complete and utter diphthong, him.”
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31 min Ndombele does really well out wide – having back is so useful for a footballer and he has it by the pantload – then cuts inside between three challenges, winning a free-kick. Son’s delivery is kicked clear.
30 min Kane goes for goal but has to dig it out to get the movement he’s seeking and it flies off towards Selhurst Park, wherever that is.
29 min Reguilon, who looks a player, dashes around Ziyech who yanks him down; he’s booked. Free-kick Spurs, 30 yards out, left of centre, and Hazza Kane fancies it.
27 min Spurs counter, Bergwijn into Kane onto Son, but when he finds Bergwijn yer man slips so that his pass for his captain is intercepted.
26 min “I realise this sort of explanation is not always welcome,” emails Nuno Ferreira, “but just in case you really wanted to know the correct pronunciation of José in Portuguese is ‘Joo-Zeh’, and the initial J sounds like the g in ‘genre’.
On the contrary, it’s always and absolutely welcome. Jay-Z and Joo-Zeh, Unreasonable No Doubt.
25 min “Your remark on 22 minutes invites the inevitable commentator’s curse!” reckons Richard Hirst.
Even I’m not so self-obsessed that I think any of what I say matters. But I’d be glad of a goal!
24 min Chelsea need to move the ball quicker and try to work overloads even if they’re in central areas. At the moment, Spurs are defending them pretty easily because they’re too strung out.
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22 min There’s not a lot in this, but a Spurs goal on the counter looks more likely than a Chelsea goal under weight of pressure.
20 min “Is it just me or should we expect more of an elite striker? Werner’s finish did deserve praise from GNev and Martin Tyler, but no word about being a yard offside? Given his position on the field and the space he had, I thought it a dismal error on his part.”
I’m not sure. It’s so hard to watch the line and the ball, and it was marginal. I guess he could’ve given himself a yard on the basis that if the pass came, he had the gas and space to get away, but I think you’re being a little harsh on the lad.
18 min Chelsea pass a bit, but it’s all in front of Spurs. Their problem is that they don’t have wingers so rely on the full-backs to stretch the play, and they’re worried about defending the counter.
17 min This game is showing signs of sparking. Maybe Mourinho should ease a finger up Lampard’s nostril to help it on its way.
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15 min The corner is only half-cleared and Ndombele lashes a shot that Mendy saves easily enough. Simply having a keeper not desperate to toss them in at all times has made such a difference for Chelsea.
14 min Ndombele does well to turn in midfield and spread to Bergwijn – he’s started well – and again sorts his feet out to whip a brute of a cross to the far post, forcing Thiago Silva to head behind under pressure from Kane.
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13 min “I’m sure I won’t be alone in wanting to point out to Alex Whitney that ‘Joe-Zay’ is the correct pronunciation for the Portugese version of the name,” says Peter Flint. “‘Hoe-Zay’ is Spanish, but Mourinho told us the correct way to say his name pretty soon after he arrived at Spurs (at least, those of us who watched the Amazon documentary).”
I remember it being discussed on Sky early on in his time at Chelsea, but thought it was “Jo-say” with a soft s.
11 min Lovely rom Chelsea, Abraham feeding Mount who moves onto Wenrer on his outside; he opens his body beautifully and curls a curler around Rodon and Lloris, but moved a fraction to soon, so the flag goes up.
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9 min And that’s why! Son finds Ndombele who finds Bergwijn and he sends the ball wide to Reguilon. It comes straight back and Bergwijn, whose bounce and dexterity makes him really unpredictable, rearranges feet on the move, opening his body to curl a curler just over the top.
8 min The game is yet to settle. Chelsea have had most of the territory and ball, but most of it’s been in front of Spurs, who are happy for them to do all of that.
6 min What is it with these kits – Spurs have it and so do Liverpool – needing v-neck collars on their backs. I don’t understand, at all.
5 min First little flash of Spurs, Bergwijn bouncing down the right, and he wins a throw deep inside the Chelsea half. But from that the ball goes backwards, and we start again.
3 min I really, really love Reece James. The first time I saw him live, he beat Marcus Rashford in a “foot race” – not many can say that – and everything I’ve seen since that night tells me he’s got a whole lot of it. Not as much as Kieran Trippikiyay, mother expletive, but still plenty.
2 min James crosses towards Abraham and when the ball’s headed clear, Ziyech cracks straight at Lloris.
1 min Mourinho is old! He’s now doing that Alex Ferguson thing of wearing a zip-up under the coat.
1 min And off we go!
The players take a knee. All black lives matter.
A minute’s applause for Diego. He convinced my generation that one bloke could get the ball and run around everyone, in the World Cup knockouts. No one has ever done more ti disprove the team-game truism.
“Redknapp/Ziyech” says Alex Whitney. “It’s not near as bad as an entire nation calling a certain Mourinho by ‘Joe-Zay’. Can we allot three yellows?”
Is that his emcee name? I need to hear Joe-Zay bck-to-back with Jay-Z. I’d call the record Unreasonable Doubt.
Here come the teams!
Redknapp says he’s been talking to Cousin Frank about Thiago Silva, who he says is great not just on the pitch but in the training and in the dressing room. I’m not going to lie, I’ve never especially rated him – I don’t think he’s rubbish, just that he played in an era that didn’t have many great defenders and had he been playing 10 years earlier, he’d have been just another bloke. But being considered one of the best of his time has given him a composure which is making a big difference to Chelsea at the moment, though if I was Harry Kane (FAOD I’m not), I’d be telling Son to run off him.
Lampard says both teams are playing well and knowing when to attack against a team so good on the counter will be key. Good knowledge.
Mason Mount says like all big games, it’ll be “massively focused on tactics”, and hopes his team can impose themselves.
“What are your opinions on Joe Rodon and Eric Dier as a centre-back pair rather than Davinson Sanchez starting?” asks Owen Dodd.
It’s hard to say as I’ve not really seen much of Rodon, but it’s a bit of a cleanse for Sanchez that the manager prefers an untried kid to him. I really liked the look of him when I saw him for Ajax the year they got to the Europa Final – even though Mourinho had United pla on his touch – but he’s not improved as much as you’d have hoped since then, and we know Mourinho doesn’t often change his mind.
Jamie Redknapp clad in cardigan, tie and button-down shirt combo, just pronounced Ziyech “Zye-eck”. That’s got to be worth two yellow cards.
I wonder if Chelsea have missed a trick playing Abraham – my guess is Rodon and Dier will both prefer marking him to Werner but, on the other hand, him dashing from in to out sounds like the opposite of fun
Mourinho says they trust Rodon and there’s always a first time; his first time is in a big match. He was happy the team were stable with Dier and Alderweireld, but injuries happen and he’s still happy. But he doesn’t want the same performance he got last week because all games are different.
Sissoko says his team need to be compact and play like they did last week. Hope no one tells his manager.
Hakim Ziyech, then – what a magnificently nasty, lovely expletive he is. He plays like he’s in a hurry, like he can’t believe it took Chelsea so long either, and it’s great to see. Obviously he strikes the ball like a boss, but the main thing is the brain and the intensity – he understands the game, and is able to impose that on his team-mates, raising their level as a consequence. I imagine Lampard has identified the space behind Reguilon as one to attach, and I imagine Mourinho has identified Lampard identifying that.
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Email! “I don’t mean to be rude,” says Mike Title – so you know what’s coming next – “but Frank Lampard comes across in interviews as a cab driver who has been told that unless he convinces the watching public that he is the Chelsea manager, his family will be shot. I don’t think he handles stress well at all. Surely a prerequisite of the job!”
I don’t know about that. Of the ex-pros who get jobs, he one I’d not be surprised to see be good: he’s an excellent communicator, played for some great managers, and probably knows what a decent player looks like. I’m sure he’s got a lot of improving to do as a coach and tactician, but he can get help with those and ultimately the main thing is talent and mentality and in those he’s an expert. For what it’s worth, here’s something on that (but with a different focus).
That game is now over. United move up to seventh in the table and if they win their game in hand will be only two off Liverpool. What an absolutely ludicrous state of affairs in an absolutely ludicrous league in an absolutely ludicrous country in an absolutely ludicrous sport in an absolutely ludicrous world.
Edinson Cavani has just scored for Man United in injury-time, his second goal after coming on at half-time – and he made the one he didn’t score.
Back to that Spurs midfield, before Tanguy Ndombele, who was the last player who responded well to Mourinho’s unique brand of nails love? Joe Cole? I remember Mourinho saying something like “He was a talent, now he’s a player,” and he was – though I wonder if being a slow winger in a great team was the best of which he was capable. Anyway, Ndombele is so much fun to watch, and very few midfielders have his ability to elude the press and beat men in centrefield – and I’d expect goals to come too.
Talking of managers finding formulae, Southampton v Man United is into the last five minutes. The home side led 2-0 at half-time but it’s now 202 and both sides look capable of finding a winner. Follow along here:
So what does it all mean? The most noticeable Spursian aspect is the handing of a full debut to Joe Rodon – no doubt his name has already been added to Mourinho’s fabled spreadsheet. He replaces the injured Toby Alderweireld and is, I’m told, a player. Otherwise, the team is the same one that beat Manchester City last weekend, which makes a lot of sense – though I can’t help but wonder how much funner and maybe better Spurs would be with Giovani Lo Celso in ahead of Moussa Sissoko.
As for Chelsea, they also make one alteration: Thiago Silva is in for Antonio Rudiger. Which is to say both managers think they’ve found the formula
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Teams!
Tottenham Hotspur (an implacable 4-3-3): Lloris; Aurier, Dier, Rodon, Reguilon; Hojbjerg, Sissoko, Ndombele; Bergwijn, Kane, Son. Subs: Hart, Sanchez, Bale, Lo Celso, Lucas Moura, Davies, Vinicius.
Chelsea (a flexible 4-2-3-1): Mendy; James, Thiago Silva, Zouma, Chilwell; Kante, Kovacic; Mount, Ziyech, Werner; Abraham. Subs: Kepa, Rudiger, Jorginho, Pulisic, Giroud, Azpilicueta, Havertz.
Having a hard day: Paul Tierney (Wigan)
Preamble
Even when not seeking to end protracted television series, humans are pathologically obsessed with stories – consider our relationships to literature, art, psychoanalysis, gossip and ourselves. And there are fewer better examples of such than football, an eternal continuum of unfolding events less boring than whatever else we happen to be doing.
But even in that context, this match stands out, a moreish speedball of narrative and life that has every chance of ending in a ruck. Most importantly, this is a derby between two clubs that despise each other for our entertainment, sentiments with deep roots that periodically surface on the pitch. Though there’ll be no fans in the ground, the players will know exactly what’s expected of them nevertheless so we can hope.
On top of that, this is a derby to decide who’ll be top of the league at the end of the weekend, an aspect intensified by how little anyone expected that to be the case. Spurs, though, somehow found the money that Mauricio Pochettino was always denied and spent it well, then Harry Kane restored José Mourinho’s mislaid mojo after almost a decade in exile and suddenly we’re looking at potential champions.
Chelsea, meanwhile, appeared to be spending like, well, an oligarch, buying expensive shiny stuff because they could and to stop anyone else having it, rather than because they absolutely needed it. But then Hakim Ziyech got fit and opened up everything – an impact that will surprise no one who was shocked he wasn’t expropriated from Ajax sooner. For as long as N’golo Kanté stays fit and the centre of their defence holds up, they are a threat.
And finally, there’s the managerial aspect. The work Mourinho did with Frank Lampard and pals is almost unprecedented in football history, his shamanic bronca inspiring a team that continued winning because of him for years after he left. The styles the two of them espouse are not similar, but the attitude they demand could not be more so; watching that play out should be an absolute treat.
Kick-off: 4.30pm GMT
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