Chelsea has a rough match at the end of a rough few results. How will the Blues fare against a tough Jose Mourinho Tottenham?
When Jose Mourinho took charge of Tottenham, the Blues had a pretty comfortable lead on the North London side. That lead is gone courtesy of Manchester City, West Ham, Everton, and Bournemouth. Now Tottenham is in form and Chelsea very much are not. Hopes are low for this one but anything can happen.
Tan Yi Hao: Tottenham 4 – Chelsea 1. This game has been set up exactly the way Jose Mourinho used to like it when he was at the Blues. Statement wins at the start of his tenure have always been a Mourinho thing and, regardless of what team he manages, early success has never eluded him.
More importantly, Spurs, buoyed by the new man at the helm, are in top form and at home. They should prove too much to handle for Frank Lampard’s Chelsea.
As much as I truly believe Lampard’s Chelsea would have the last laugh in 1-2 seasons time, this game has come at the worst possible time for the Blues and will only yield a positive result for the home side.
Kevin Peacock: 2 – 3. Expect the unexpected is pretty much norm with The Blues. Off a run of bad results for Frank Lampard’s boys and with Spurs reinvigorated with their new manager you’d think this will be easy for the North Londoners. Think again. This is Chelsea. I’m going to write Frank’s team talk.
“Right boys, we’re playing Tottenham this afternoon. Tottenham, right. For Chelsea Football Club and those supporters out there, there is no bigger game. Just go out there with no fear, get in their faces and take no prisoners. We’ve had a bad run of results but we’ve been playing well. Just keep creating and results will follow, but above all else…..if you get an opportunity to shoot. Bloody well SHOOT!!!!!!”.
Chelsea to win 3-2. Tammy Abraham, Willian (he hates Tottenham) and N’Golo Kante with the goals.
Barrett Rouen: 2 – 3. I just feel it.
Scott Brant: 1 – 1. I think this match will be a bit reserved from both sides: neither team wanting to make the mistake, both happy with a point. The Chelsea defense will play just good enough to hold onto the point. Dele Alli to score and Abraham to score.
Vansh Ambashta: 2 – 2. Jose Mourinho knows Chelsea inside out. Moreover, he knows Frank Lampard inside out.
This should turn out to be a historic derby as the Blues will make a comeback from two goals down. Harry Kane to score two, Abraham and Mason Mount to score for Chelsea.
Olaoluwa Nwobodo: 2 – 1. Chelsea has been in bad form lately. Then again, when the Blues have played teams in bad form, they’ve lost. So we’ll be hoping those things are reversed. However, Tottenham are a lot more organized than the Blues, in defense and attack. They do not have a scoring problem. Chelsea’s defense can hold off Tottenham’s attack, but only for so long. If the Blues continuously gives away chances to Spurs, they’ll eventually concede a few, and it looks like that may be the case here.
Hugo Amaya: 3 – 1. Unfortunately Chelsea’s defense is not ready for Mourinho’s counter-attacking strategies. The Blues will have most of the possession but Spurs will be efficient in their attack, converting their only three chances of the game.
N’Golo Kante will be the only scorer in the dying minutes of the game as Chelsea walk off disappointed knowing they fell right into the opposition’s plan.
Abhishek Pancholi: 3 – 1. Jose Mourinho is annoying on the best of days, but a smug Mourinho is downright insufferable. But that’s what he will be when Spurs’ superior attack overcomes a reshuffled Chelsea defense. Heung-Min Son, Dele Alli and Harry Kane will be the goal scorers for North London’s finest, while Tammy Abraham will be the sole name on the score sheet for Chelsea.
Nate Hofmann: 4-0 The Blues are walking into a massacre. There’s nothing to suggest this will be anything other than an absolute disaster. Who has better recent form? Spurs. More experience in big matches? Spurs. Better players? Spurs. Home team? Spurs. It’s just not going to be Chelsea’s day. All we can do is hope for no injuries and maybe a touchline dust-up or something fun. Bah humbug.
Gabe Henderson: 2 – 3. Lampard won the first meeting against Mourinho and he’s not slated to win this one, so he’ll go out and do the thing. Chelsea is in bad form lately, with Spurs on fire since The Special One took over. Therefore, this story line has a Blues win written all over it. Everyone will see a tremendous amount of heart from the Blues this weekend.
Varun Dani: 1 – 2. If there is one thing Mourinho loves more than silverware, it’s to stick one big fat “I told you so” in the face of his ex-employers. After Lampard’s first game of the season, that bitter loss to United, Mourinho already called out his apprentice’s naivete about using young players too early.
Ever since, Lampard and his young lads have proved Mourinho’s damning analysis wrong, but both sides will be adamant to firmly establish their belief in what will be a fierce London derby to say the least. Harry Kane is back to scoring 30 yard screamers while Dele Alli will be the embodiment of Mourinho’s dark arts. Given Chelsea’s defensive fragility, the team is bound to concede. But Lampard knows more than anyone that character and determination can sometimes beat the odds, and he will do everything in his power to ensure that the boys go into this one with a fire to prove that Mourinho was wrong with his usage of the Chelsea academy.
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