Chelsea host Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, and Thomas Tuchel’s team news has now been revealed.
Thomas Tuchel’s side face Spurs in west London at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea and Antonio Conte’s men wanting to maintain their winning start by making it back-to-back wins to open their 2022/23 account.
Chelsea beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park following Jorginho’s penalty. Spurs came from behind to thump Southampton 4-1 to give both sides a victory heading into the London derby.
Advert
It’s a big game so early on in the season, something Tuchel wishes wasn’t in the early parts of the season.
"It's very exciting because you feel the tension in the house,” admitted Tuchel ahead of the game.
“People will be excited to watch and follow. In general, we'd like to have more time, me especially (before a big game). But we don't.”
After the team news was confirmed, Spurs will be without Clement Lenglet and Oliver Skipp but will welcome Richarlison into the fold after suspension.
The latest Chelsea team news
Marc Cucurella and Kalidou Koulibaly
Both made their debuts against Everton last weekend. Koulibaly started, while Cucurella came off the bench in the second half.
Advert
Koulibaly came off with cramp but both are available for the Spurs clash and could both be in line to start at Stamford Bridge.
Marcos Alonso
Alonso is set to play no further part for Chelsea as he closes in on a transfer to Barcelona. Tuchel confirmed he has missed training at Cobham and won’t be available to face Spurs.
“He is not in training at the moment and tries to finalise his transfer so he will not be available for (Sunday’s) game.”
Advert
Mateo Kovacic
Chelsea will be without the Croatian for the London derby. He wasn’t available for the win over Everton and he misses out again due to a knee problem, which Tuchel doesn’t want to risk setting him back further.
“Has issues with his knee, always a little bit of a reaction,” said Tuchel. “We decided to take a step back and increase treatment time to reduce the stress that comes from training to have a normal reaction before we start again.”
Raheem Sterling
The 27-year-old is set to make his first home appearance since joining the club. Sterling impressed at Everton last weekend and will be called upon again to help steer the Blues to a second win from as many games.
Advert
Where he will play across the front three on Sunday is unknown, with Tuchel still figuring out his best position for Chelsea.
.jpg)
However, the Chelsea head coach does know that wherever he does play, he will be a threat for Chelsea against Spurs.
Ahead of the derby, Tuchel said: “I think he should play in the last line or in between the defensive lines to drive towards the last line or run through the last line. He was very, very good in training in this free role as a number 9, dropping into half spaces. It’s such a lot of quality that there are many spaces to use for him.
Advert
“He can play from the wing of course, he is used to playing there. He was very dangerous, had an offside goal and big chance from number nine which was more of a free role for him to play and I liked it a lot. Things are not finished. He came late to our pre-season. One thing is clear, the kind of impact he has physically and mentally, in terms of quality, it's huge no matter where he plays.”
Topics: Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella, Marcos Alonso, Mateo Kovacic, Raheem Sterling, Premier League, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Football
Matthew Debono