Chelsea News

Right now, we’re all dreaming of a Blue Christmas. As football goes into the international break, Chelsea is sitting clear at the top of the Premier League – and on the previous five occasions we’ve been in that position on December 25th, we’ve gone on to win the title.

As the early pacesetters of the season, can the team keep that edge right through to May 2022? Well, the players have certainly maintained the momentum of the club’s second UCL win as well as taking home the UEFA Super Cup this year under the new stewardship of Thomas Tuchel. Will we continue to dominate the Premier League as well as score a third UCL title?

Currently sitting second in the PL are our UCL rivals Manchester City followed by the impressive rise of West Ham to third place – a team heavily favoured in the UEFA Europa League odds to win that title way ahead of their UK rivals.

If West Ham maintain their strong PL position, the UEFA Champions League tips place them for promotion to Europe’s upper tier next season. Of course, this season Chelsea are firmly amongst the favourites to be victorious at the Gazprom Arena.

Can we become the second team to win back-to-back UCL titles after Real Madrid in 2017? We’re up against stiff competition from the likes of Bayern Munich, PSG, Manchester City and Liverpool. Yet it’s not just Blues fans who can appreciate that Tuchel now has a strong squad with a real depth of expertise at his disposal.

Some Rest for the Winners

Source: Pixabay

In under a year at the helm, Tuchel has been named Manager of the Month twice, in March and October 2021. Up until the international break, he has made 38 changes to the Premier League starting XI – more than any other team by a long way, with Liverpool next at 29.

This has helped the players to stay fresh, and those not away on international duty or in training to recover from injury will have a week off before the ‘tough’ winter schedule to rest and return reinvigorated. Going into the New Year the Blues will play ten games in the PL with the FA Cup and Club World Cup tournaments looming plus that defence of the Champions League title.

So, it’s undoubtedly a smart move on Tuchel’s part to give the squad time off if they’re to have the energy required to maintain that leading edge at home and on the European stage.
It was 2013 when we made history by becoming the first team to win both the Champions League and the Europa League back-to-back.

Then in 2019, we were part of footballing history again when both of the continent’s major competitions featured all-English finals – the Blues delivering a blistering 4-1 defeat to Arsenal in Baku in the Europa League and Liverpool victorious over Tottenham in the UCL 2-0.

Here’s hoping that we’ll end both our Premier League and our UCL campaigns this season as we’ve started – with the confidence, skill and motivation to continue our winning streak at home and the tactics, tenacity and determination to put Europe’s finest squads firmly in our shade.

With the 2021/22 edition of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) already underway, defending champions, Chelsea FC, enter the new season with more responsibility on their shoulders, but with the opportunity to make history.

Anticipation couldn’t be higher, as Tomas Tuchel will face his first full season at Stamford Bridge with a reinforced squad. The team that surprised Europe last year, will take their chances at the biggest club competition in the world, now knowing that staying on top is even more difficult than getting there.

A Third Title

When Thomas Tuchel arrived at Chelsea in January, it was hard to imagine the impact he would have on the team, but it was even harder to guess that in 10 months he would win the UCL and the UEFA Super Cup.

He did not only top all expectations, but he built a solid squad, by far one of the best in Europe, that has entered this new season as favourites to win the Premier League but also become the second team, after Real Madrid in 2017, to win-back-to-back UCL titles. Currently, Champions League outright football betting price Chelsea as one of the favourites to win the competition at odds of 8/1.

As defending champions, the Blues cannot have any other goal than to win the title. With no relevant departures, the team is practically the same as last year’s, plus the Belgium superstar Romelu Lukaku, who promises to make up for the team’s lack of goals in past.

Nonetheless, let us not forget that Chelsea’s biggest asset under Tuchel is the defence. At the end of last season, the team had only conceded 10 in 24 matches goals since the arrival of the German manager, who transformed the team after Frank Lampard’s departure. Playing with three defenders, the team is incredibly solid, with Antonio Rüdiger and Thiago Silva forming an almost unbeatable defence, which may also include Cezar Azpilicueta, Trevoh Chalobah, Andreas Christensen or even Malang Sarr.

Key Players

Romelu Lukaku

A decade after leaving, Lukaku returned home after the best season of his career last year, in which he helped Inter win Serie A for the first time in 11 years. At 28 years old, the Belgian became the most expensive player in accumulated transfer fees. Big, strong, but also fast and smart, Lukaku is a top scorer. Last season, he scored 30 goals and assisted 10 times, all in just 44 games.

N’Golo Kanté

Midfielder N’Golo Kanté has consistently proven how important he is for his teams. A crucial element in Leicester’s 2015/16 title, the Frenchman was a decisive player in winning the Champions League last season. Discreet and incredibly efficient, Kanté has expanded his skills and he is now more than a defensive midfielder: he has also become a powerful weapon in the counterattack, due to his speed and ability to win over balls in advanced sectors of the field.

Thiago Silva

The 36-year-old Brazilian was initially met with distrust upon his arrival in London but has since then proved his quality. The defender, who won his first Champions League title last year, has 88 games in the main European competition for three different teams: Milan, PSG and Chelsea. He offers not only the quality but also the experience needed in a winning team.

Ultimately, Chelsea has everything needed for a successful run in the UCL this year, but the likes of PSG, Manchester City and Bayern Munich are also strong contenders to win the title.

We have never been so excited to be going to a pre-season friendly at Stamford Bridge. 

In the before times this kind of game would struggle to shift tickets and would not be a big deal, even though we are playing Tottenham.

However, with all that has happened, on and off the pitch it should be a celebration.

Both of a return of fans to football stadiums and of course Chelsea winning the Champions League.

It has been a long 18 months away, although we did get to the Leeds game in December as one of 2,000 fans attending the game under the Tier system this will be a return to something “normal”

It really does feel like a huge game. It will be amazing/weird to actually get on a train head to the ground, see lots of familiar faces and just be back is going to be amazing.

Alot has changed since the cold December evening when I was last at the Bridge for Chelsea v Leeds.

Frank Lampard left the club just over a month later and Thomas Tuchel game in and transformed the team into contenders. Then of course we only went and won the Champions League!

Which leads us nicely into today’s opponents Tottenham.

What a team to play (even in a friendly) on the day we parade the Champions League trophy.

• Live football
• Full Stamford Bridge
• Chance to tell Tottenham who the only team in London with a European Cup is

What more do you want?

In a few hours, we’ll have the chance to follow Italy and Turkey as they (hopefully) shoot their first goals at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome in the first match of the 2020 European Championship. It remains 2020 because it’s still the 60-year anniversary of the tournament, albeit held a year later, that’s hosted in almost a dozen cities around Europe. It is, without a doubt, the biggest football event of the last three years, with all football lovers’ eyes on it.

Expect the keo168 tips to pour, expect the press to extensively cover the tiniest details of the matches day after day, for a whole month.

And expect to see familiar faces at the tournament, with these Pensioners stepping onto the turf for their respective countries – many of them against their teammates playing with the Three Lions: Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Mason Mount.

Palmieri and Jorginho (Italy)

The first two Chelsea players to play on the very first matchday of the EURO 2020 are left-back Emerson Palmieri and midfielder Jorginho who, despite his Portuguese-sounding name, is Italian.

Ethan Ampadu (Wales)

Welsh defender Ethan Ampadu is also at his first major international tournament, having previously played in Wales’ World Cup qualifier and in the Europa League.

Michy Batshuayi (Belgium)

Batshuayi is one of the faces that may look unfamiliar, having spent the better part of the last two years on loan at Crystal Palace. Although he was eligible to represent Congo as an international, he chose his native Belgium instead – he made his debut in a EURO 2016 qualifier with a goal. He later scored in Belgium’s World Cup qualifier against Bosnia.

Andreas Christensen (Denmark)

Christensen graduated from Chelsea’s academy in 2013 and has been with the club ever since. The 25-year-old defender has represented his country in more than 40 matches since 2015, including in the country’s World Cup qualifier in 2018.

Mateo Kovacic (Croatia)

Kovacic is a versatile midfielder able to play in many positions. He is also a player with a lot of relevant experience, having played in two World Cups and one European Championship.

Billy Gilmour (Scotland)

Gilmour has played more games with the Scottish U21 team than he has with Chelsea since joining the club in 2019. He made his full debut with the National Team this month – now, in turn, he’ll have a chance to shine.

Cesar Azpilicueta (Spain)

Azpilicueta is an experienced international with two World Cups under his belt, and at his second European Championship with La Roja, plus more than 50 games at a youth level. Under his captaincy, Chelsea won the Champions League.

Kurt Zouma, N’Golo Kanté, Olivier Giroud (France)

Zouma missed his first shot at a European Championship due to an injury he suffered while at Chelsea. Now he has the chance to make up for the lost time. Kanté was part of France’s squad that finished second in EURO 2016, and the one that won the 2018 World Cup, along with Giroud who was also there.

Antonio Rüdiger, Kai Havertz, Timo Werner (Germany)

Rüdiger missed the 2016 European Championship due to an injury and hardly played in the World Cup. Now he’ll have a chance to show his worth. Havertz is a newcomer at Chelsea but has a formidable history in the Bundesliga, and a chance to shine at the EUROs. And so does Werner, who won a Golden Boot in the 2019 FIFA Confederations Cup, and is at his first appearance at the European Championship

In the  spirit of pandemic camaraderie, Chelsea have today confirmed an incredible act of generosity to help out our north London neighbours.

Chelsea today announced that  Arsenal and Tottenham will be borrowing part of Chelsea’s trophy cabinet until the end of the season.

The trophies will be sent on loan by Chelsea as an extension of an already highly successful but controversial loan system used by the club to help those with fewer resources. At the end of the season the trophies will be returned to Stamford Bridge and we will all pretend that nothing happened.

A spokesperson confirmed

Tottenham lack Premier League trophy and neither have won the Champions League. By loaning Spurs a Premier League trophy and Arsenal our Champions League trophy we feel honoured to be helping those less fortunate.

This is an incredible act of generosity from Chelsea in the spirit of the pandemic.

Helping two clubs that were forced to sack staff and accept government handouts will surely raise spirits potentially be a money-spinner.

Spurs may have a brand new stadium but on the pitch times have been rough the last 40 years

Spurs Trophy Plans

Spurs have already announced a commemorative DVD and plan to put the Premier League trophy in their club shop allowing fans to come and marvel at the trophy.

Once non-essential retail opens up and in a socially distanced fashion of course.

A Premier League trophy will also provide some nostalgia and pride to their current manager about a time when he was winning trophies and managing a London club he could be proud of.

Arsenal Play Cards Close To Chest

Arsenal on the other hand have been coy about their plans. Rumours continue to swirl that the club will melt the trophy down and sell it to keep the lights on.

There is however no truth to the rumours that Gunnosauraus had been signed by Chelsea to replace Timo Werner up front following the mascot’s unceremonious release by the Gunners.

Happy April 1st