Chelsea’s pre-season campaign draws to a close on Wednesday night when Thomas Tuchel’s team take on Spurs at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues have yet to taste defeat in their three friendlies so far, beating Peterborough 6-1 and enjoying 2-1 successes over both Bournemouth and Arsenal. Pre-season results count for very little, it’s more about building up fitness levels.
But still, a win over fellow Londoners Arsenal went down very well among the fans. A victory against Spurs and their new manager Nuno Espirito Santo will go down very, very well indeed.
It’s the last chance for Tuchel to properly fine tune his squad ahead of the first competitive fixture of the new season - the UEFA Super Cup clash with Villarreal in Belfast on August 11.
Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Mason Mount, Emerson and Jorginho all returned to pre-season training on Monday as Tuchel now has a full complement to choose from. Those six are highly unlikely to feature against Spurs, with the Villarreal clash likely their first - and only - run out ahead of the new Premier League season.
Chelsea have set a precedent this summer in giving their players at least a week of training before being put into games. Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Antonio Rudiger, Mateo Kovacic, Kurt Zouma and N’Golo Kante were afforded that before they all got 45 minutes against Arsenal on Sunday.
Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azplilicueta have only been back in training for five days so, if going by the rules Chelsea have implemented this season, they’re set to sit out Wednesday’s game.
That means there is perhaps one final chance for some of the Blues players who have been in pre-season for almost a month now to state their case to Tuchel for a place in his final 25-man Premier League squad.
There is at least one place up for grabs following the departure of Olivier Giroud to AC Milan just over a week ago, while Petr Cech’s spot in last season’s squad - which was an emergency - will be filled by new recruit Marcus Bettinelli.
That leaves Willy Caballero’s spot available to be filled after the Argentine left the club following the Champions League final success at the expiration of his contract.
Fikayo Tomori’s spot from this time last year is also up for grabs as he secured a permanent switch to AC Milan earlier this summer.
Those could, of course, be filled by new recruits if Tuchel decides to make an adventure in the transfer market, which he is expected to do despite what has been a slow start to the window with the club mainly focussed on outgoings rather than incomings.
But, they could also be taken by players who were away on loan last season who might have their last chance to press their claims on Wednesday.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley are two of the main protagonists. Loftus-Cheek has had a good pre-season campaign whereas Barkley has underwhelmed somewhat. Both players still face uncertain futures in west London, with differing reports especially on Loftus-Cheek.
Malang Sarr is another player who will be pressing claims, as will Davide Zappacosta, Danny Drinkwater, Michy Batshuayi, Kenedy and Trevoh Chalobah.
Tuchel may well have made his mind up on those players already but with the absence of some of his international stars in midweek, they might get one last chance to change the head coach’s mind.
With the Blues under-23s taking on Boreham Wood in their final pre-season friendly on Tuesday evening, who drops down into the squad for that game could give some clues as to where Tuchel is heading, especially if the likes of Chalobah and Dujon Sterling play in Hertfordshire instead of in SW6.
