Chelsea 0-0 Tottenham LIVE: Kepa Arrizabalaga dropped, Premier League score and updates

Chelsea vs Tottenham: Premier League score, goals and latest updates

CHELSEA 0-0 TOTTENHAM

Chelsea XI: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso, Jorginho, Kovacic, Kante, Pedro, Hazard, Higuain.

Tottenham XI: Lloris, Trippier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Davies, Winks, Sissoko, Lamela, Eriksen, Son, Kane.

• Kepa Arrizabalaga dropped, Willy Caballero starts

CHELSEA 0-0 TOTTENHAM

5: Naughty foul by Harry Winks on Mateo Kovacic just outside the penalty area. I suspect David Luiz will want to take aim.

Oh, Marcos Alonso pulled rank. The Spanish left-back strides up… and blasts it straight into the wall. Poor effort.

3: Six of the Chelsea starters tonight played all 120 minutes in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley. It’s very possible that fatigue will take effect later in the match.

Even start here at Stamford Bridge as both sides settle into their rhythm.

CHELSEA 0-0 TOTTENHAM

1: Do you think we can forget about Kepa vs Caballero for 90 minutes and enjoy a fierce London derby with plenty at stake? Good. We’re underway folks!

Here they come!

19:55: We’re almost underway at Stamford Bridge. So difficult to pick a winner out of these two tonight. Spurs could benefit from the circus surrounding the Chelsea goalkeeper situation.

On the other hand, Willy Caballero could play a blinder and bag himself the No.1 shirt. I’ll be annoying and plump for a 1-1 draw.

Ozil goal…

19:50: No, you’re not misreading this update. Mesut Ozil really has scored for Arsenal. The German playmaker is on the scoresheet after just four minutes as the Gunners lead Bournemouth 1-0.

Underway…

19:45: Two of the SIX Premier League fixtures are underway folks. The relegation battle between Southampton and Fulham, and Arsenal vs Bournemouth have just kicked off.

Twitter round-up

Akin: As a Chelsea fan, dropping Kepa was the only right call. Caballero performance is a secondary issue here, though I’m disappointed to see Alonso in the XI.

Jack: Can I have odds on Kepa to be substituted on and for Caballero to refuse to come off please. #RequestABet.

Sam: We’re all with Caballero tonight. Apart from Spurs supporters there can’t be a football fan around who doesn’t want him to put in a great performance and take the Chelsea no 1 shirt off Kepa.

Did they ever get back to you with those odds, Jack?

Still strong

19:35: Maurizio Sarri insists his relationship with the Blues hierarchy is unchanged by the Kepa Arrizabalaga incident.

“My relationship with the club is like before,” Sarri said.

Sarri spoke with director Marina Granovskaia, a key confidante of owner Roman Abramovich, prior to and after the Wembley loss.

The conversation following the defeat was about the handling of the Kepa situation, with the Blues board fining the 24-year-old a week’s wages which will be donated to the Chelsea Foundation charity.

“I spoke with Marina this week, before the final, just for good luck,” Sarri added. “I spoke to Marina after the match about the Kepa situation.”

Oh, well that’s all sorted then and we can forget about it…

Errr…

19:30: Chelsea have asked their fans in a tweet who the club should sign in the close season less than a week after FIFA imposed a transfer ban on the Premier League outfit.

Yes, that really happened.

FIFA announced that Chelsea would be banned from signing players in the next two transfer windows after they were found guilty of breaching rules regarding overseas players under the age of 18.

“Who would you want to sign in the summer,” Chelsea asked their Twitter followers, providing a link to a ‘Media Watch’ section on their website which said the club was looking at AC Milan centre back Alessio Romagnoli as a potential target.

The tweet, which has been removed, outraged many fans, with one asking the club to sign a new social media team instead.

Others jokingly suggested Spanish keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga would have the final say following his refusal to be substituted by Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri during extra time in Sunday’s League Cup final defeat by Manchester City.

Five-year plan…

19:25: Mauricio Pochettino thinks it could take another five years before Tottenham are ready to challenge for the Premier League title.

Not the headline Spurs supporters will have wanted to read.

Pochettino, who has been Spurs boss for almost five years, reckons it could take the same time again to change the mentality at the club.

“The example is Watford,” he said. ”One-nil up, and then in the last 20 minutes we threw away the game, because of us, not because of Watford.

“If you watch the game again you know that is what happened, and my worry is what happened and to change that is not only five-year work, maybe it is 10-year work to change that thing that happened here.”

Twitter round-up

Don: I can’t even with Sarri anymore. If Chelsea don’t win tonight he should be fired in the tunnel. No Emerson, no Callum Hudson-Odoi, no Christensen, no Loftus-Cheek, and he drops Kepa for being an alpha!

Matt: This Kepa decision contradicts what Sarri said yesterday about moving on, blah, blah… Caballero prone to the odd mistake… will be under plenty of scrutiny.

Akin: I highly respect Sarri for having the guts to bench Kepa. The club paid world record fee for a goalkeeper but if you don’t respect your manager you are clearly disrespecting the club and your teammates. It is a huge game but this is the correct decision by Sarri.

Team news

19:15: Chelsea make four changes to the side which lost 4-3 on penalties to City at Wembley.

Kepa Arrizabalaga is dropped to the bench for Chelsea’s Premier League clash with Tottenham after being punished for his refusal to be substituted in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.

The 24-year-old – at £71.6million the world’s most expensive goalkeeper – was fined one week’s wages and apologised after refusing to go off with penalties looming at Wembley, sending head coach Maurizio Sarri apoplectic.

Gonzalo Higuain returned up front, with Willian making way and Eden Hazard moving to his preferred left wing role. Mateo Kovacic and Marcos Alonso also came in for Ross Barkley and Emerson Palmieri, respectively.

Spurs, who lost at Burnley on Saturday, made four changes, with Serge Aurier, Juan Foyth, Danny Rose and Jan Vertonghen out and Kieran Trippier, Davinson Sanchez, Ben Davies and Erik Lamela coming in.

The starting XI…

19:00: Kepa Arrizabalaga announces his starting line-up. Sorry, I mean Maurizio Sarri. The headline news is that Kepa has been dropped after his antics at Wembley. Willy Caballero comes in.

Chelsea XI: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso, Jorginho, Kovacic, Kante, Pedro, Hazard, Higuain.

Subs: Arrizabalaga, Barkley, Loftus-Cheek, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi, Willian, Christensen.

Tottenham XI: Lloris, Trippier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Davies, Winks, Sissoko, Lamela, Eriksen, Son, Kane.

Subs: Gazzaniga, Rose, Wanyama, Llorente, Foyth, Aurier, Moura.

Clue?

18:55: Well, Sky Sports Italia are reporting that Maurizio Sarri has dropped Kepa Arrizabalaga tonight. He is said to start on the bench with Willy Caballero between the sticks.

Another, slightly less official clue, is that Caballero was the first out of the tunnel to warm up on the pitch.

Evening…

18:50: Ready for a busy night?

We’ve got an all-you-can-eat buffet of Premier League action on offer this evening with every top-six side playing simultaneously.

It’s a bloggers worst nightmare.

We’ve got Liverpool and Manchester City’s title race, the battle for Champions League football and even a relegation six-pointer sprinkled into the mix.

I would like whoever is in charge of scheduling at the FA to report to my fictional office for a ticking off…

Anyway, we’ll be concentrating on events at Stamford Bridge tonight as under-pressure Maurizio Sarri looks to save his job against a wounded Tottenham.

Spurs suffered a shock defeat to Burnley on Saturday, while Chelsea lost the Carabao Cup final to Manchester City on penalties.

We’ll find out the line-ups shortly, and see if Sarri starts with renegade Kepa Arrizabalaga between the sticks. Standby…