Chelsea: Mood of despair beginning to evaporate at the Bridge

Following their 2-0 defeat of Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, it seemed that the mood of despair that came with the dismissal of Frank Lampard was beginning to evaporate.

Judging by many of the posts on various social media platforms, the consensus is that Thomas Tuchel has given a good account of himself – that’s despite the fact that, a few weeks ago, footage emerged of the German saying that, in his earlier years, he was a fan of Sp*rs.

Nevertheless, since joining the Stamford Bridge side, the rivalry between them and his new club has been highlighted and, in speaking about his boyhood liking for the N17 team, Tuchel remarked, “Now I am aware I work for their big rivals and you can be sure we will do everything we can to beat them!”

For the majority of match attending Chelsea supporters, this game is one of the most important of all the league fixtures.

Chelsea, under Lampard, have already played in N17 once already this season, drawing 1-1 after 90 minutes in the League Cup with Timo Werner scoring his first Chelsea goal and Eduard Mendy making his debut between the sticks – though the Blues went out after losing the penalty shoot-out 5-4.

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Last season’s corresponding fixture saw Chelsea’s first visit to the newly renovated Wh*te H*rt L*ne end on a winning note thanks to a brace scored by Willian, his second coming via the penalty spot after the home side’s goalkeeper literally assaulted Marcos Alonso.

Despite the fact that referee Anthony Taylor initially decided to award the home side a free-kick instead of giving Chelsea the penalty, his obvious and clear mistake was overturned by VAR.

After Chelsea’s 3-3 draw at The Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion, Marcos Alonso was substituted at halftime and experienced the ire of Lampard when he decided to leave the stadium after he was taken off at halftime.

He never featured for Lampard again but was somewhat surprisingly brought back against Burnley last Sunday and scored a fantastic goal to help secure the three points for his side after fellow countryman Cesar Azpilicueta had given Chelsea the lead.

Alonso has made something of a habit of scoring for Chelsea against Sp*rs and, with that in mind, I’m placing my money on him to repeat the feat again – the price for him to score any time being 6.00 with our friends at FansBet.

About the Author

Londoner David Johnstone is a home, away and European away Chelsea supporter and has missed just six matches since 2001 (although he’s quick to state there are plenty of other supporters with better attendance records than him).

He has been involved with the fanzine scene at Chelsea since around 1991 and started the ‘cfcuk’ fanzine in 1999 which was, until Mr Abramovich bought the club in 2003, named ‘Matthew Harding’s Blue And White Army’.

David was also responsible for forming both the Chelsea Supporters’ Group and the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust which are the main two bodies that represent the followers of Chelsea FC and take their concerns to those running the club.

A founder of the highly regarded Chelsea FanCast weekly podcast (but is no longer involved) and responsible for the crowd surfing banners and supporter displays that are seen in the Matthew Harding Stand at Stamford Bridge on matchday.

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