EFL Cup 2018/19: Chelsea vs Tottenham

This Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg could arguably not have come at a worse time for both Chelsea and Spurs. Chelsea had just lost to another bitter London rival, Arsenal, the previous weekend, going down 2-0 at the Emirates. Blues boss Maurizio Sarri questioned the motivation of his players following the league defeat and perhaps is struggling with a few of the egos within the Chelsea dressing room.

For Tottenham, even though they had won the first leg 1-0, a cup semi-final was the last game they wanted to play at this time given the absentees they had from their squad. Furthermore, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has had to field a lot of questions about his failure to deliver silverware to North London given the team he has assembled over the past few years. Another loss at this stage would only serve to brighten that spotlight a little more.

Nevertheless, the great rivalry between these two old London clubs always guarantees a spectacle, especially in a cup semi-final. Fortunately, egos and injuries wouldn’t get in the way of what proved to be a very entertaining match, full of the passion and commitment expected for such an occasion.

Teams

Maurizio Sarri has been heavily critiqued for how he has utilised his squad in recent months. Initially, many pundits and analysts could not understand Sarri’s positioning of both NGolo Kanté and Eden Hazard, but the Italian was brought in to implement his philosophy. That’s what he’ll continue to do until his last day at the club.

However, it seems he is willing to bend slightly to get the best out of his Belgian superstar Hazard. With the arrival of striker Gonzalo Higuain from Juventus, Hazard will seemingly be moved back to his favoured left-wing position, as he was here. He was joined in attack by his preferred strike partner Olivier Giroud in the number nine role, with former Barcelona winger Pedro played wide on the right. Holding midfielder Jorginho and centre-back David Luiz are key to the Blues’ build-up play, since both are technically gifted individuals.

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