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Chelsea line up to face Manchester United

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Chelsea make three changes from the midweek game in Romania against Atletico Madrid  There are returns for Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech and N'Golo Kante to Thomas Tuchel's side as Chelsea welcome Manchester United to Stamford Bridge for this afternoons game. The trio to miss out are Marcos Alonso, Jorginho and Timo Werner who all drop to the bench. This means the Olivier Giroud will lead the line up front following his brilliant performance in Romania on Tuesday, with the attacking support being provided by both Mason Mount and Hakim Ziyech. The goalkeeper and the back three remain unchanged with Edouard Mendy protected at the back by Cesar Azpiliqueta, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger. The wing-backs will be Ben Chilwell and Callum-Hudson-Odoi, with Matteo Kovacic partnered by Kante in the centre of midfield. When asked about his decision to select Ziyech over Werner, Tuchel said: 'For me Hakim is a different type of player. He deserves to start. His impact in the gam

Chelsea vs Manchester United - The Match Preview + Team news

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The matches in February reach their end with Chelsea hosting one of the biggest matches of the season  today. This top five super Sunday showdown matches Chelsea with Manchester United on the back of mid-week nights against Spanish teams in Europe. Chelsea inflicted the first ever home defeat in the knockout stages of the Champions League on Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid, whilst Manchester United completed eliminating Real Sociedad from the Round of 32 in the Europa League with a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford.  After the biggest win of his Chelsea career to date, Thomas Tuchel will have to navigate Chelsea through their most testing period of the season. Sadly we now know that crowds will not be back at stadiums until at least mid-May. This game would have been a fine fare had fans been present at Stamford Bridge, with games against second placed Manchester United, champions Liverpool and Carlo Ancelotti's Everton in the league, plus two cup fixtures which are decisive, all due to

Ahead of Manchester United Tuchel Reports Defender missing but reports no further injuries

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The great news for Thomas Tuchel is that his squad returned from Bucharest in good health, with all those having made the trip to Romania available to face Manchester United today. However, Tuchel confirmed in his pre-match media conference that Thiago Silva will not be in contention to face Manchester United as he continues to recover from a muscle injury which he sustained at Tottenham last month.   Tuchel reported ' He carried out an individual training session today, on the pitch, and felt this was huge progress.' 'This is a big step for him, so I am hoping that he will join us next week.' Tuchel has already faced Manchester United twice this season with PSG in the champions league group stage  'It is very helpful if you understand the style, strength and weakness. We have had a pretty good impression of the style they play and the spaces in which they want to hurt us, alongside their strengths individually as a group. This will help us to prepare.' 'The

Pre-match briefing + Team News for Chelsea against Atletico Madrid in the champions league

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 Chelsea are in Bucharest but not to face Romanian opposition  Both Chelsea and Atletico Madrid dropped points domestically ahead of this big first leg round of 16 tie in the champions league. Chelsea drew 1-1 at Southampton whilst Atletico Madrid were defeated 2-0 at home to mid-table side Levante, which was their second successive loss of the campaign. In Group A in the champions league Diego Simeone's side finished a distant second behind group winners Bayern Munich, winning two games before the competition took its winter beak. Chelsea, under former boss Frank Lampard, went unbeaten throughout Group E, securing three rare away wins as well as scoring the most goals on the road throughout the whole competition. Chelsea have scored twice as many goals as Atletico Madrid (14 compared to the Spanish side's 7).  Chelsea have also not lost an away game to Atletico Madrid, winning once and drawing twice. The last game in Spain for Chelsea was the 4-0 demolition of Sevilla, even th

Chelsea team to face Atletico Madrid

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Chelsea make four changes for tonight's Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid There is a return back to the defence for Andreas Christensen and Callum Hudson-Odoi also returns to the starting line-up at right wing-back.  N'Golo Kante is replaced in the midfield by Jorginho and in attack, Olivier Giroud replaces Tammy Abraham. There are places on the bench for both Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic, as is N'Golo Kante who could possibly make his 200th appearance tonight.  There is also a first appearance in the champions league this season for Marcos Alonso. Hosts Atletico Madrid make three changes to their team from the weekend. Missing out are the injured Yannick Carrasco, Jose Gimenez and Sime Vrsaljko all miss out. To replace them in come Felipe, Joao Felix and Thomas Lemar. Atletico are expected to line up in a 3-1-4-2 shape. For more articles on news relating to Chelsea Football Club please visit my twitter account  Link -  Follow Chelsea (@FollowChelsea4) / Twit

Reaction from Tuchel on what Chelsea need to do in order to score more plus explains why Hudson-Odoi was taken off

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Thomas Tuchel saw a run of five wins in a row come to an end as Chelsea drew 1-1 in today's lunchtime kick-off against Southampton, however the subject of much of Thomas Tuchel's analysis after the game was the sharpness required to score goals to win a game whilst keeping it tight defensively. Thomas Tuchel on the touchline during Chelsea's 1-1 draw at Southampton Tuchel saw his side go behind for the first time in the seven games that he has been in charge as head coach when Southampton scored on the counter attack in the first half. A penalty in the second half from Mason Mount secured a point for Chelsea. Despite Chelsea conceding their first goal scored by an opposition player under Tuchel, the German was very content with the way that his team played at St Mary's apart from Chelsea's work in and around the penalty area. Tuchel regretfully said 'we created opportunities which in the end were not opportunities'.  'We opened up a lot of space for our

The Match Report- Southampton 1-1 Chelsea

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Another goal for Mason Mount on the South Coast however, it was not enough to claim all three points as Thomas Tuchel's side had to settle for a share of the points at St Mary's  Mason Mount celebrates equalising from the penalty spot for Chelsea against Southampton Despite controlling the majority of the game, Chelsea fell behind in the first half as Takumi Minamino managed to escape through the Blue's defence to give the hosts Southampton a lead which lasted for 20 minutes.  Mount remained lively throughout the game, taking inspiration from playing for local rivals Portsmouth, and won Chelsea a penalty from which he scored the equalising goal. The man at fault for Chelsea's penalty was Danny Ings who went to ground whereas a more sensible defender would have stayed on his feet, with their being little reason to argue against the decision. Danny Ings brings down Mason Mount to give Chelsea a penalty  With plenty of time in the game remaining, both teams had opportuniti