After making steady progress in the last two games against Norwich City and Maccabi Tel Aviv, Chelsea look set to face their London rivals Tottenham. The derby between Chelsea and Tottenham is always an ugly one as both sets of fans look down upon each other. Meanwhile, at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho claims to be happy with his current set of players despite having a shaky start. In a recent interview the Special One said
“I will not ask any change to the board for January, I am happy with my players, I trust the players,” he said.
“I don’t need to clean the dressing room, and I don’t need to ask the club to spend money in January.”
So without much ado, let’s have a look at the possible lineup that could face Spurs at the White Hart Lane
GK: Asmir Begovic
Begovic has been decent between the sticks and has managed to keep a clean sheet in his previous two games. Also, he is much higher in the pecking order than the Chelsea’s current goalkeeper choices of Marco Amelia and Jamal Blackman.
RB: Brainslav Ivanovic
It seems the injury has done anything but bad for the Serbian. A much needed resurrection from the right back after a dreadful start to the season. Ivanovic looked much neater in the Norwich match and showed the shades of the previous season. A good performance at White Hart Lane wouldn’t go amiss for the towering defender.
CB: Kurt Zouma
Zouma has been nice and tidy at the back and has solved the concerns partially. He looked like a threatening force not only in the last line of defence, but also in attacking spot as he converted the inviting corner from Oscar at the brink of half time.
CB: Gary Cahill
Cahill also found himself on the score sheet as he opened the scoring for the Blues in the away encounter against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Also, with John Terry absent Cahill becomes the obvious option to replace him. No doubts in this picking and Cahill-Zouma pairing would be good to see as they did well last match.
LB: Cesar Azpilicueta
No doubts on this one! The Basque has been in sublime form and has to be the first names on the team sheet. Despite not starting the game against Norwich, Azpilicueta would be keen to start the game against Tottenham. Also, Mourinho explained the reason for picking Kenedy over Azpilicueta in the post-match interview
“He’s an attacking player. He was playing in a position that was not so much a left-back,” Mourinho said.
“We were ready for them to play with four at the back, but also ready for them to play with five like they did against Manchester City.
“If they played with five, I wanted us to play with three at the back with Kenedy as a winger.
“In the end he played as an aggressive full-back going forward.”
CM: Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas
Nemanja Matic has been in above par form this season and has been reliable at the back as well as developing attacks. The Serbian is a tank of personality in the midfield and likes to dominate attackers with his brute force. Meanwhile, Fabregas hasn’t had the best of the season so far, however, he did phenomenally well against Norwich at home and he chipped in with an assist. He wasn’t too shabby against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
RW: Willian
A no brainer this one! Willian has been remarkable this season. His set piece accuracy has been lethal and he has to be the stand-out performer of the season so far. No doubts on this one.
CAM: Oscar
The Brazilian has been in and out of the first team a lot this season. However, he was amazing last match. The attacker scored and assisted once against Maccabi Tel Aviv. He is a better picking than Pedro and could make it to the squad for the away fixture.
LW: Eden Hazard
Hazard played amazingly well against Norwich City and it was a shame not to see him score. His dribbles and ball control abilities were tasty and glimpses of his previous season were visible in the home match. However, he was pretty average against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Again a better performance is expected from the Belgian to resuscitate his season and make good the losses.
ST: Diego Costa
Costa scored a goal against Norwich and that was the only talking point about him in the previous two matches. The Spanish forward looks lethargic up-front and needs to deliver the goods. A lot of rumors about him leaving Chelsea in January have popped up and Costa needs to perform well to shun his doubters. Also, club legend Didier Drogba spoke about the Spaniard
“It was difficult for me to understand why I was being criticised at first,” said Drogba. “But as soon as I did, I did everything to change. I was the one performing and I was the one who had to show that I was good.”
“So I have to adapt to them and if I adapt to them they are going to support me and be with me. So I did everything for the fans to be with me. I was lucky to have players around me who helped me like Frank Lampard, Petr Cech, John Terry — they were always there to support me and give me advice. They helped me to change my relationship with the fans. I was focusing more on my game and physically I was feeling stronger.”