Chelsea vs Tottenham LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction tonight
Follow all the live action from Stamford Bridge
Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of a huge London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. Thomas Tuchel’s side have already beaten Spurs three times so far this season, scoring seven goals and keeping three clean sheets in the process. But Chelsea have struggled of late as their title ambitions have slipped away. They now sit 13 points off Manchester City as securing a top four place becomes a more realistic target.
Meanwhile, Spurs are unbeaten in nine Premier League games under Antonio Conte and are now in a superb position to qualify for next season’s Champions League. A win this afternoon would take them into the top four - and victory at Stamford Bridge would also see Tottenham move just five points behind Chelsea with four games in hand.
But history sides with Chelsea. Spurs have only beaten their London rivals once at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League - a win which came in April 2018 as a Dele Alli brace saw them clinch a 3-1 victory. In all competitions, Tottenham have not scored against Chelsea in any of their last five meetings, ensuring they will be extremely motivated this afternoon as a win significantly closes the gap between the two sides. Follow all the team news and match action as Chelsea host Tottenham below, after the conclusion of Crystal Palace vs Liverpool:
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool: Team changes
Patrick Vieira makes two changes to the Crystal Palace line-up that faced Brighton last time out. Vicente Guaita comes back in goal replacing Jack Butland and Eberechi Eze drops to the bench in favour of Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Jurgen Klopp also makes two changes from the team that beat Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final last Thursday night. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain comes into the forward line replacing Kaide Gordon and Alisson Becker returns in goal with Caoimhin Kelleher on the bench.
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool: Line-ups
Crystal Palace XI: Guaita, Ward, Guehi, Andersen, Mitchell, Hughes, Schlupp, Gallagher, Olise, Mateta, Edouard
Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Jones, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jota, Firmino
Elsewhere in the Premier League
There are another two Premier League games kicking off at 2pm as Arsenal host Burnley and Leicester take on Brighton.
Arsenal will move into the top four if they claim all three points whilst a win would take Burnley off the bottom of the table. Leicester are pushing to move back into the top 10 and Brighton would become a contender for the European football spots if they beat the Foxes.
Then later on, Chelsea take on Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have already beaten Spurs three times this season and a fourth victory would give them a nine-point cushion over fourth place. If Spurs win they’ll move into the top four and have games in hand on all the teams around them putting Antonio Conte’s men in a fantastice position to secure Champions League football next season.
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool: Recent results
Crystal Palace have had a right mix of results over the festive period. In their last six Premier League matches they have won twice, drawn twice, and lost twice.
Last time out they looked to have stolen all three points against an impressive Brighton only for Joachim Andersen to net an own goal in the 87th minute and give the Seagulls a 1-1 draw. Palace are 13th in the table and if they avoid defeat today, they could move as high as 10th.
Liverpool were given a boost in the title race when Manchester City dropped two points at Southampton yesterday. Pep Guardiola’s men still have an imposing 12-point lead over the Reds, but Jurgen Klopp’s men have two games in hand and must play City again.
If they win all three of those games, then the gap will be cut to just three points but there’s no room for error. Liverpool ended a three-match winless run in the Premier League with a 3-0 victory over Brentford last time out and have to continue their winning ways against Crystal Palace today.
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp on the title race
Jurgen Klopp spoke about Liverpool’s chances of winning the Premier League title after Manchester City dropped points against Southampton yesterday. Klopp said it will be incredibly difficult for the Reds to challenge and they only thing they can do is to win as many games as possible. He said:
Look, the problem is not the situation – the problem is that you ask about it, to be honest. What is our situation? Is it 11 points [behind] with a game in hand? If I would sit here and say, ‘I can smell that we’ll get them’ that would be really crazy and if I would sit here and say, ‘We don’t even try’, that would be crazy as well.
“The only thing we can do is win football games, we cannot wait for a slip, we cannot really influence a slip of City. The only thing we can influence is our performance so I thought it’s a good idea to do exactly that: just win as many as you can.
“This group did it. I’m not sure when it was, two years ago or three years ago, we won the last 15 games or something like this. It was never easy, not for one second. We needed last-second goals, at Newcastle Divock’s shoulder, that’s what we needed then.
“So, nobody knows what will happen, obviously, but we will try to win as many football games as possible. That’s, by the way, very necessary because there is one spot who will become champion and three more to qualify for the Champions League and this year is so crazy.
“Tottenham, for example, they changed the manager because they were not happy and now they have three or four games in hand and if they win them all they are all of a sudden third or whatever and really close. United, you never know, Arsenal, obviously [have] potential, Chelsea anyway, West Ham is around.
“We want to qualify so we have to win anyway an awful lot of football games and that’s what we will try. Then we will see where it ends up.”
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool: Liverpool provide injury updates on Harvey Elliott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he’s unsure on when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will return to action but that Harvey Elliott could be back after the international break.
Elliott hasn’t played since his ankle ligament injury against Leeds in September. Klopp was emotional when he saw the teenager go off with injury in the game and he spoke of his joy at his return to training.
Liverpool provide injury updates on Harvey Elliott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Elliott could return after the international break but it’s uncertain when Oxlade-Chamberlain will be back
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool: Patrick Vieira on Mané and Salah
Crystal Palace manager, Patrick Vieira, says that Liverpool are still a difficult team to play against despite the absences of Sadio Mané and Mo Salah.
“This is a team. It’s not just about those two players they’re missing. Obviously with those two [Salah and Mané] they’re stronger but there are still players playing really well with fantastic talents.
“The best way to describe this team before talking about the individual talent is as a team. This is a strong team.”
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool: Injuries and absentees
Crystal Palace are without Wilfried Zaha and Cheikhou Kouyate who are at the Africa Cup of Nations but Jordan Ayew has returned after his Ghana team were knocked out of the tournament.
James McArthur and James Tomkins are side-lined with injuries.
Joel Matip will be assessed for Liverpool after being substituted at half-time against Arsenal on Thursday night. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could also return after he picked up an ankle injury last weekend.
Mo Salah, Naby Keita and Sadio Mane are still at AFCON and are unavailable to Liverpool.
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool latest news
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits midfielder Curtis Jones occasionally needs a “push” but he has been delighted by the response.
Klopp recently had a pep talk with the academy graduate, who turns 21 next week, in which he told the local youngster it was time to take his game up a level.
Jones, who had been sidelined by a freak eye injury and Covid, has started the last two matches and was particularly impressive in the Carabao Cup semi-final win over Arsenal on Thursday.
“Yes, Curtis was really good the last two games. I know him for a long time now and I am one of his biggest fans,” said Klopp.
“From when I first saw him I can remember the talent group training at Melwood on a side pitch and I looked out of my office and saw him and it was ‘Ooof. Wow’.
“The next question was ‘How old is he?’. I think he was 15 at the time but was already clearly a massive talent.
“Talents need to work and he is doing that work and talents need to learn the game and he is doing that every day.
“Sometimes they need a push and Curtis looks like he is that guy – not that he is not concentrating. It is a proper response and if his response is like this then absolutely fine.”
More from the Liverpool manager on Jones and Diogo Jota here:
Curtis Jones needs a push but responds well, says ‘biggest fan’ Jurgen Klopp
The homegrown midfielder has starred in Liverpool’s last two games.
Crystal Palace vs Liverpool latest news
Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira has played down the absence of key Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane for Sunday’s meeting at Selhurst Park.
The Reds will again be without their two main attackers, who are away competing at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
It will no doubt boost Palace, who lost 3-0 to Liverpool in September with the pair on target and both hit doubles against the south London outfit last season too.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have coped well without Salah and Mane, winning three of the four games they have missed to progress in two cup competitions and move up to second in the Premier League.
Vieira said: “Liverpool is a team. It is not just about those two players they are missing.
“Obviously with those two players they are stronger but there are still a couple of players who are playing well with fantastic talents, so the best way to describe this team, before talking about individual talents, is to talk about the team – and this is a strong team.”
Full report:
There’s more to Liverpool than Salah and Mane, says Palace manager Patrick Vieira
The pair scored in Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Vieira’s Crystal Palace team in September.
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