And now it’s the turn of Frank Lampard. “It’s a big moment for us. We understand how close the battle for fourth is, and it’s a big rivalry anyway. This game always has a lot on it, regardless. Our players need to show something, our home form hasn’t been what we want it to be, we are very honest about that. It’s a time to change that, a good opportunity. Olivier Giroud’s professionalism has been brilliant. He needed some weeks to get fit, and today he is ready, so he gets the nod. We have a squad for a reason, players have to come in and do their jobs. I expected Jose to know how we were going to go, so the match-up is a test, a challenge for us.”
BT Sport have a word with the ever-spiky Jose Mourinho. “I cannot demand more than I do in every game, which is to give everything they can give. We have had only two days to prepare but we prepared the best we could. As I was more than expecting, Chelsea come with a system and with Alonso playing, we prepare ourselves tactically for that. And with what we have available, we are going to fight for the points.” As for leaving out Dele Alli? “I am not sure you ask every manager in the Premier League when one player stays out. Do you do the same question for them? For other managers it is normal to leave out any player they want. It looks like to me any time I make a decision of this type, there is always a big story so I prefer not to answer. I think Ndombele can give us creativity, we need a bit of risk, he is in condition to give us a good hour.”
Chelsea hand Olivier Giroud his first start in three months. He’s one of four changes to the side that went down at home to Manchester United. Ross Barkley, Mason Mount and Marcos Alonso also step up, taking the places of Michy Batshuayi, Pedro, Willian, and the injured N’Golo Kante.
Meanwhile there’s no room in the starting XI for Tottenham’s bottle-and-boot-juggling malcontent Dele Alli. He drops to the bench, one of three changes made in the wake of the Leipzig defeat. Serge Aurier and Gedson Fernandes also make way; Jan Vertonghen, Tanguy Ndombele and Japhet Tanganga take their places.
The teams
Chelsea: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger, James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso, Barkley, Mount, Giroud.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Abraham, Willian, Loftus-Cheek, Zouma, Emerson Palmieri, Gilmour.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Tanganga, Ndombele, Winks, Lo Celso, Davies, Lucas Moura, Bergwijn.
Subs: Lamela, Dier, Sessegnon, Alli, Gazzaniga, Aurier, Fernandes.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
Preamble
It’s fair to say Chelsea have the upper hand in this fixture: Tottenham Hotspur have won it once in the last 30 years. Look at it another way, though: Spurs have won one of their last two Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge, having triumphed here 3-1 in April 2018. So depending on your cut-off point, and the angle at which you’re holding the prism you’re peering through, Spurs either have a win ratio of 50 percent or a slightly less impressive 3.33 percent. It’s all up to you.
However you want to spin it, this is a big one. When Chelsea did a number on Spurs in north London last December, an eventual finish in the Champions League places looked likely for Frank Lampard’s side. For Spurs, such an end-of-season prize seemed a pipe dream. But Spurs have won three of their last four league games, drawing the other, while Chelsea are without a win in four. And suddenly, having made up eight points in short order, Jose Mourinho is breathing down his old club’s neck. They’re just a point behind!
Should Chelsea swat Spurs aside as they usually do on their own patch, that gap regenerates to four points and the Pensioners can breathe again. Only problem is, they’ve won just five of their 13 league matches at the Bridge this season. Spurs will scent blood. Chelsea, however, have that recent 2-0 win in N17 as succour, and can point to Tottenham riding their luck at times during their recent winning run, while they themselves had none whatsoever against Manchester United last Monday. So depending on how you look at it, etc., and so on, and so forth.
Can Chelsea burst clear again in the race for fourth? Or will Jose overhaul his old club to set up one hell of a scramble during the run-in? We’ll find out this lunchtime. It’s on!
Kick off: 12.30pm GMT.
Updated