THE BEAUTIFUL GAME ⚽

THE FINAL TEST (Chelsea vs Tottenham Preview)

Tottenham travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg.
Tottenham will take a 1-0 lead into their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Chelsea tonight, but will be without some key players.
Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Heung-Min Son will not be available, with the two England internationals both out until March with injuries and Son away at the Asian Cup.
Kane scored the only goal of the game in the first leg at Wembley, converting a 26th-minute penalty, with the game marred in VAR controversy.

"I am so optimistic," Pochettino was quoted as saying. "We are going to prepare for Chelsea, try to find solutions. Try to be solid, aggressive, offensive and keep our identity.
"Of course it's going to be tough. I don't say we're going to win easily on Thursday. But we are going to try. That is the most important thing and I know that afterwards I will be happy because the squad we have is going to give their best to be in the final."
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri launched an extraordinary criticism of his players following last Saturday's Premier League loss to Arsenal, saying "this group of players are extremely difficult to motivate".
Asked about the response from his players this week, he said: "I think we need to react on the pitch. The rest is nothing.
"We discussed with the players how to try to improve the approach, the motivation, the determination, so we are trying to change something in training, in pre-match, in everything. I think we all have to react on the pitch, of course."

TEAM NEWS
It's not all bad news on Tottenham's injury front, with Moussa Sissoko (groin) back in training, although it remains to be seen whether he is fit for tonight.
Lucas Moura (knee) is back in full training and should be fit to feature at Stamford Bridge while Victor Wanyama, who has been out since November with a knee problem, is also back in training but is unlikely to be involved.
Heung-Min Son, Dele Alli and Harry Kane will not feature for Tottenham.

Gonzalo Higuain will not feature for Chelsea as his anticipated signing was not completed in time.
Eden Hazard could continue as a 'false nine' or Olivier Giroud could start, with Alvaro Morata out of favour ahead of his expected departure to Atletico Madrid. Ruben Loftus-Cheek (back) is likely to be out again.

STATS
Chelsea have lost both of their meetings with Tottenham in all competitions this season - the last time they lost three games against the same opponent in a season was vs Man City in 2012-13.

Tottenham are looking to win four games in a row against Chelsea in all competitions for the first time since a run of five between March 1961 and September 1963.

Chelsea haven't lost consecutive home games against Spurs in all competitions since March 1982.

The last time Tottenham beat a team three times in the same season was in 2013-14 against Aston Villa.

On just one of the five previous occasions that Chelsea lost the first leg of a League Cup semi-final tie have they progressed to the final, beating Arsenal 4-3 on aggregate in 1997-98 en route to winning the trophy.

Tottenham have progressed on three of the five previous occasions they won a League Cup semi-final first leg, going out against Newcastle in 1975-76 and Arsenal in 1986-87 after 1-0 wins first time out.

Since the start of last season, Chelsea's Eden Hazard has been directly involved in six goals in his seven League Cup games (3 goals, 3 assists).

Dele Alli has had a hand in five goals in his six League Cup starts for Tottenham (4 goals, 1 assist).

It goes down 8:45pm tonight
Feel free to drop your score prediction

CHELSEA COMPLETES LOAN MOVE FOR GONZALO HIGUAIN

Chelsea have signed Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain on loan for the remainder of the season with an option to buy him for 36m euros (£31.3m).
The Blues also have the option to extend the Argentine's loan deal until June 2020 for 18m euros (£15.6m).
Higuain, 31, spent the first half of the season on loan at AC Milan, scoring eight goals in 22 games.
"When the opportunity to join Chelsea presented itself I had to take it," said Higuain.
"It's a team I've always liked that has a lot of history, a wonderful stadium and they play in the Premier League, a league I've always wanted to play in."
As the deal was not completed before Wednesday's midday deadline, he cannot play in tonight's Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Tottenham.
The striker played under Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri while at Napoli in 2015-16, equalling the Serie A goalscoring record with 36 goals.
"He is a very strong striker, especially in my first season at Naples," said Sarri. "He did very very well. For sure, he is one of the best strikers in my career.
"I hope that he will start scoring for us. I know he has had some difficulties at the moment".
Higuain added: "I now hope I can give back that trust Chelsea have shown me out on the pitch. I can't wait to start and I hope to adapt as soon as possible."
"This was not an easy deal for us to do because of the numerous parties involved, but we are delighted we were able to make it happen".
Higuain was linked with Arsenal when Juventus signed him for a then domestic record £75.3m from Napoli in July 2016. After scoring 40 league goals in two seasons, he moved to Milan in August, with the option of making the deal permanent at the end of the season for a fee of 36m euros.
His spell at Milan began well, with six goals in five games, but he only found the net once in his final 12 appearances.
Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata is expected to undergo a medical in Spain today as he closes in on completing his move to Atletico Madrid.
Morata will depart Stamford Bridge on an initial six-month loan deal, with the Liga outfit having the option to buy Morata for £43.7m ($57m) at the end of the season. There is understood to be a further £4.4m ($5.7m) in loan fees.
Chelsea are currently fourth in the Premier League, three points ahead of Arsenal who beat them 2-0 at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

What are your thoughts on Chelsea signing a 31years old Higuain? Is He the right man to fix their scoring problems?
Drop your thoughts in the comment section.

The Beautiful Game ⚽

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