Tottenham Hotspur Vs Chelsea Line Up

Chelsea coach Antonio Conte made no changes to the lineup that won Stoke City on the new year eve, to face Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart lane. 
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The line up have Thiabut Courtois in Goal, David Luiz, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill in defence with Victor Moses, Nemanja Matic, Cesc Fabregas Marcos Alonso in midfield and William, Diego Costa and Eden Hazard in attack.

Antonio Conte is determined to break the Premier League record of fourteen (14) straight wins in a season, with his new formation of 3-5-3 as Chelsea welcome back Pedro, who was suspended to the last outing against Stoke City.

Also, Tottenham Hotspur head coach Mauricio Pochettino also named a strong starting XI with one change from the starting XI that walked over Watford on the new year day. Jan Vertonghen replaces Kevin Wimmer in the starting XI that had Hugo Lloris in goal, Kieran Trippier, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose in defence, Eric Dier, Victor Wanyama, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Heung-Min Son in midfield with Harry Kane as a lone striker on the adopted 4-2-3-1 formation.
Pochettino looks set to playing more in midfield for this game with this formation and hope to break the Chelsea side, on the counter.

Let us wait till kick off to know what the game holds.

The centre referee  for this match is Martin Atkinson.

 More of the actions from White Hart Lane to follow.

Chelsea Beats Crystal Palace to Extend Lead EPL at Christmas Day

Chelsea centre-forward Diego Costa scored our first headed goal of the season, and his 50th Chelsea goal overall, shortly before half-time, and that proved enough for a third 1-0 win in a row and a minimum six-point lead in the table going into Christmas.

It was by no means an easy win in this London derby however, as both sides maybe showed signs of tiredness at the end of a draining week. Thibaut Courtois had to make saves, although not as diffcult as the ones on Wednesday, and it was the Blues who came closest to scoring the game’s second goal when Marcos Alonso struck woodwork late on.

There is now an eight-day recovery period until we play again although there is an added complication for the Boxing Day game of no Diego Costa or N’Golo Kante for then, following bookings today. 

For this game at Selhurst Park, Eden Hazard was back from his one-game injury absence and Nemanja Matic also returned to the line up having started on the bench at Sunderland. Conte had indicated 24 hours earlier that this may be a game to rest odd players at the end of a busy week, and Pedro was among the subs this time so Willian started for the second game running. Cesc Fabregas returned to the bench.

The stage was set for the chance to put more pressure on our challenges as we kicked off the first Premier League game of the weekend, and early Chelsea pressure came down our left. There was hope of a chance inside 10 minutes when Kante was alert to intercepting Damien Delaney’s pass forward from the back but Hazard did not read our midfielder’s subsequent intentions.

Soon after, Kante was spoken to by the ref but the booking that means a suspension came later. There was however a yellow card shown to Palace full-back Joel Ward on 16 minutes when he took down Hazard just outside the area, following a smart back heel from Willian. That had been our best move yet, but David Luiz’s subsequent free-kick was deflected wide safely for the home team.

It was Palace who had the first real chance of the game, when Martin Kelly’s run into space wide on the right was spotted but his low cross was screwed wide by Jason Puncheon.

Midway through the half came the booking that does mean a Chelsea change at centre-forward for Bournemouth on Boxing Day. Diego Costa was carded for a trip so will serve the one-match ban he has for so long avoided.  

Chelsea were under a degree of pressure at this stage of the game, but Hazard was beginning to make his runs and Palace were resorting to giving away free-kicks to stop him.

Still the chances did not come however and the first half drifted on with regular interruptions for fouls from both sides. Chelsea did break well and finally won the game at full time.

Crystal Palace vs Chelsea Line ups

Chelsea made two changes to the lineup that won at Sunderland at midweek with the return of Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic to the team.

The have Thiabut Courtois in Goal, David Luiz, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill in defence with Victor Moses, Nemanja Matic, N'Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso in midfield and William, Diego Costa and Eden Hazard in attack.

Chelsea coach Antonio Conte is determined to make it eleven straight wins with new formation of 3-5-3 and his strongest XI being fit for this lunch time encounter at Selhurst Park.

Also, Crystal Palace coach Alan Pardew has named his starting lineup for this game on 4-5-1 formation going into this game with Wayne Hennessey in goal, Joel Ward, Dimien Delaney Scott Dann and Martin Kelly in defence, Wilfred Zaha, James McArthur, Joe Ledley, Yohan Cabeye and Jason Puncheon in midfield and Christian Benteke as the lone forward.

The centre referee  for this match is Jon Moss and he would take charge of the proceedings.

 See you at Selhurst Park

Chelsea beats Liverpool at Anfield to maintain lead

Jose Mourinho Chelsea team maintained their seasons 100% record at Anfield by beating Liverpool.

Goals from Gary Cahill and Diego Costa cancelled Liverpool's early lead from Emre Can in the 9th minute and completes Mourinho's masterstroke at Anfield in 2014.

 Cahill scored in the 14th minute to make it 1 - 1 only for Costa to net the winner in the 67th minute.

This time there was no need for José Mourinho to worry unduly about Chelsea’s opponents. Liverpool, to put it bluntly, do not inspire that kind of trepidation any more and Chelsea could dismantle them without any complaints about their methods.
Chelsea did have to withstand some late pressure and Liverpool have legitimate grievances about that moment, after 87 minutes, when Gary Cahill blocked a Gerrard shot with his hand.

The referee, Anthony Taylor, was guilty of missing a clear penalty but Rodgers was stretching the truth when he tried to argue a draw would have been an accurate assessment of how the contest went. The truth is that Chelsea were the more rounded side for at least three-quarters of the game.

 Ramires was introduced just before the hour mark while Didier Drogba and Filipe lius were introduced on the 90th minute to hold on the time at Anfield.

 They played with control and know-how, with Nemanja Matic outstanding in midfield and Cesc Fàbregas only marginally subdued by Jordan Henderson’s man-marking. Fàbregas,


Post match interview with Mourinho revealed afterwards, that Fabregas had played despite a hamstring injury and may now miss a couple of matches. The same applies to Ramires, with a groin problem.

 “They were really in trouble but they put themselves there for the team,” Mourinho said. It typified the spirit of his side.

The match ended Liverpool 1 Chelsea 2

Hazard Hattrick Fires Chelsea To League Summit

Hazard was the hero as he produced a superb hattrick to down Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge. 

Jose Mourinho men started the game with high momentum and Mourinho insisting that Chelsea are not title contenders but, after Eden Hazard's superb hat-trick sent them top of the Premier League, that argument is looking harder and harder to sustain with any real sincerity.

The Blues built on their excellent victory at the Etihad Stadium with a dominating display at Stamford Bridge against a lacklustre Newcastle side. Here, as then, the sublime Hazard was the outstanding player on the pitch but this time his classy technique was allied to a ruthless sense of purpose. Even his penalty was dispatched with style and, on this form, it is hard to disagree with Mourinho's description of the Belgian as "the best young player in the world".

Newcastle offered little resistance and their season is in danger of petering out following the sale of Yohan Cabaye but here they, as everyone else, could only sit and watch in awe of the magical Hazard.

By Andy Craig

That ended the game as a contest but the former Lille man applied the gloss to a fine display with a penalty just after the hour mark.

Chelsea quickly began to dominate proceedings and perhaps should have taken the lead after 25 minutes when Oscar lashed a shot narrowly off target but, just two minutes later, they did make the breakthrough as Hazard curled into the bottom corner,having collected a pass from Branislav Ivanovic.

Newcastle wasted a glaring chance just after the half-hour mark, Moussa Sissoko - captain in the absence of the injured Cheikh Tiote - denied by Cech following a superb through-ball from Davide Santon.

The visitors were punished almost immediately as Hazard finished off a marvellous counterattack by surging into the box before playing a one-two with Samuel Eto'o and coolly slotting beyond Krul.

Mourinho's men continued to look fallible in defence and were grateful to Cech once more when the Czech goalkeeper scrambled to prevent Luuk de Jong from scoring on his full Newcastle debut with a close-range header.


However, the third goal finally arrived on 63 minutes, Hazard converting from the spot in confident fashion after Yanga-Mbiwa had hauled down Eto'o in the area.

The Belgian then came off to a rousing standing ovation prior to a flurry of late chances, Krul denying substiute Mohamed Salah a first goal for Chelsea before Sylvain Marveaux somehow shot wide following a Newcastle counter at the other end.