More from Sarri: “I think Willy Caballero is ready, he has very good experience. We are not to worry about him.” Mauricio Pochettino also speaks to BT Sport: “Jan Vertonghen felt a problem in his hip yesterday. We hope that it is not a big issue and he can be available for the next game.” And finally a little bit from Harry Kane: “It’s a London derby, we;ve had some great battles with Chelsea this season and over the past few years. So it’ll be the same again tonight. Obviously both teams will want to bounce back from the weekend, so it’s down to us to play our style and try to get the three points.”
“There are consequences.” We shouldn’t be particularly surprised that Sarri’s dropped Kepa. Here he is yesterday, dropping a fairly obvious hint.
‘There are consequences’: Sarri on whether Arrizabalaga will start in goal against Spurs – video
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Here’s Chelsea’s two keepers going through their pre-match warm-up. Everyone getting along just fine! There’s nice.
Willy Caballero: all calmed down now. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images via Reuters
Maurizio Sarri, straight to the point as ever, explains his decision to drop Kepa. “It’s a choice. It’s a message for my group. That we are a group, and not 25 players. It’s my choice.”
So there’s our answer: Maurizio Sarri has dropped Kepa Arrizabalaga, all £71m of him, to the bench. That’s punishment for the keeper’s brazen insubordination at Wembley towards the end of the League Cup final against Manchester City. Pent-up penalty expert Willy Caballero takes his place … at long last. That’s one of four changes made by Chelsea. Marcos Alonso, Mateo Kovacic and Gonzalo Higuain take the places of Emerson, Ross Barkley and Willian.
Spurs meanwhile make four changes of their own from the XI who went down at Burnley on Saturday. Keiran Trippier, Davison Sanchez, Ben Davies and Erik Lamela step up; Danny Rose, Juan Foyth, Serge Aurier and Jan Vertonghen make way.
The teams
Chelsea: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso, Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Pedro, Higuain, Hazard.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Barkley, Loftus-Cheek, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi, Willian, Christensen.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies, Winks, Sissoko, Eriksen, Lamela, Son, Kane.
Subs: Rose, Wanyama, Llorente, Foyth, Gazzaniga, Aurier, Lucas Moura.
Referee: Andre Marriner (West Midlands).
Preamble
Will Tottenham close the gap on Liverpool and Manchester City? Will they register back-to-back league wins at Stamford Bridge, having ended a 28-year wait for a victory here last year? Can they complete a league double over Chelsea for the first time since 1971? Will Chelsea bounce back from League Cup final misery to reclaim a place in the top four? Will this descend into a wild brawl like it did in gloriously entertaining fashion when Spurs ran out of title gas in 2016?
Questions, questions. Though to be honest, the only one anyone’s really worried about is this: will Maurizio Sarri pick stubborn netminder Kepa Arrizabalaga after his theatrically bolshie display at Wembley last Sunday? We’ll soon find out! Teams coming soon, after which … it’s on!
Kick off: 8pm GMT.
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