Chelsea vs Tottenham – pre-season: Live score, team news and updates
Chelsea vs Tottenham LIVE: Premier League rivals get the big guns out for pre-season clash at the Bridge… with N’Golo Kante, Timo Werner, Son Heung-min and Dele Alli all starting – and keeper Pierluigi Gollini makes his Spurs debut on loan from Atalanta
- Chelsea and their London rivals Tottenham are rarely involved in ‘friendly’ games
- Even though it is pre-season, it should be a competitive affair at Stamford Bridge
- Latest Premier League news, including all the build-up to the 2021/22 season
- The complete Premier League club-by-club list of transfers this summer
With the Premier League season fast approaching, Chelsea and their London rivals Tottenham will look to iron out the remaining pre-season kinks.
The Blues have been offering plenty of game time to fringe players and they must seize their chances to impress Thomas Tuchel in tonight’s game at Stamford Bridge.
For Spurs, a strong display against Chelsea would help alleviate the Harry Kane shaped cloud of anxiety looming over the club.
The pre-season clash is part of the Mind Series, which started with Chelsea beating Arsenal 2-1 in the first fixture.
Follow Sportsmail’s Oli Gamp for live pre-season coverage of Chelsea vs Tottenham, including build-up, team news and updates.
Host commentator
We’re well past freedom day so welcome back to a full capacity crowd at Stamford Bridge!
We went basically the entire campaign with no fans, and got a handful of supporters in for the final games, but it’s great to see people flock to stadiums again, especially for a game between two Premier League big dogs.
Timo Werner struggled to show off his best quality last season – netting just 12 times, with sub option Tammy Abraham managing the same total. The Blues are in the market for a new striker and a return for Romelu Lukaku is thought to be in the offing.
So what an opportunity for Werner to stake his claim for a place and show his shooting boots have returned in west London.
Tottenham’s pre-season has been centred around the future of their talisman Harry Kane, and that will remain the case until he is sold or the window slams shut.
He was due back in training on Monday but failed to show, and was also absent for the next two days with the England captain recently enjoying a holiday in the Carribbean after Euro 2020. He has effectively ruled himself out of the season opener against Man City – the club chasing his signature – after opting to spend another day in Florida on his way home.
He faces a period of isolation before he can return to training.
So Chelsea make two changes from the side that beat Arsenal as N’Golo Kante comes in for Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Marcos Alonso is in for Christian Pulisic. It’s a strong team from Tuchel with three at the back and Havertz, Werner and Ziyech leading the line.
Tottenham hand a debut to new goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini, with young midfielder Oliver Skipp partnering Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, while Dele Alli gets another opportunity to impress behind Steven Bergwijn, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min.
Spurs: Gollini, Doherty, Tanganga, Dier, Reguilón, Skipp, Højbjerg, Dele, Bergwijn, Lucas, Son.
Starting with the hosts…
Chelsea: Mendy, Zouma, Chalobah, Rudiger, Hudson-Odoi, Kovacic, Kante, Alonso, Ziyech, Havertz, Werner
Football is back! Sort of…
We’re going to get a taster of action from next season as Chelsea welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Stamford Bridge for a pre-season clash in the Mind Series.
It’s Thomas Tuchel vs Nuno Espirito Santo, it’s a London derby and it should be intruging stuff as both managers cast an eye over their squads with the new season just weeks away.
Chelsea have already been in action in this tournament, beating Arsenal 2-1 thanks to goals from Kai Havertz and Tammy Abraham, while Granit Xhaka scored for the Gunners. The Blues will be looking to make it two in a row against their old enemies as they look to outline their credentials as title contenders.
Join me for all the updates for this one, which kicks off at 19:45.
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