Chelsea would have been favourites against Tottenham a few months ago, so what has gone wrong?
Antonio Conte has lost some key players, fallen out with star striker Diego Costa and missed out on some top transfer targets
So here we go then, off to Wembley, it’s only still August and not the Charity Community Farce we’ve come to love to lose recently, so what’s going on?
Well of course those of you who can stomach even the slightest titbit of news about Chelsea's familiar foes will know that they’re finally knocking down White Hart Lane and are going to try and make it look nice.
Meanwhile, Spurs have relocated to the national stadium and seem to be camped in for a while.
The early season match between last season’s two horses in the race was an obvious pick for the TV boys and so it is, off we go again to Wembley on a Sunday afternoon. But what can we expect?
Well, no Diego Costa, obviously, and also Captain Cahill and Cesc Fabregas also miss out through suspension, all of a sudden and very early in the season, our squad is looking a little stretched.
Eden Hazard and Tiemoue Bakayoko came through a training match this week unscathed, but are they fully match ready yet?
I like any other supporter want to see our best players on the pitch but are they being rushed too soon?
Maybe I’m being overly pessimistic but something just doesn’t feel right with Chelsea at the moment and I hope we’re not seeing a repeat of the story we’ve all came to know far too often; success with a good manager, the manager doesn’t receive the backing to complete their jobs, relationships break down and then we have a new coach and rinse, spin and repeat.
I am a massive fan of Antonio Conte and what he managed to achieve.
But if we’re to undertake this season without new players then I can’t see how we can cope if we get a couple of injuries and suspensions at the wrong time.
We were lucky with injuries last season, will it continue into this one?
We should at least get a good look at Antonio Rudiger at the back against a good Spurs attack
And the Bakayoko-Ngolo Kante midfield is something I’m excited to watch develop and see how it handles Spurs’ high and quick pressing.
But if Bakayoko is even 10 per cent not fit he’s going to struggle against the high energy game Spurs play, oh how we could have done with a Nemanja Matic for this match!
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For the first time in a while I’m concerned about an opponent, last season it felt like we could beat anybody But at the moment if feels like we’re beating ourselves.
The match against Burnley being a case in point, we need to go out and show that we’re still together, still fighting for the manager and we’re not done yet.
Wembley is not Spurs’ home and they will be on unfamiliar ground as much as we.
Last time I can remember a London team playing their home games at Wembley was Arsenal in the Champions League, and we all remember how well that went.
We need to get our swagger back, this could be the perfect time to show we never lost it, or it could also become another big weight on an already strained bridge.