By Reece Heaton
Chelsea come up against a winless Sheffield United this evening at Stamford Bridge as The Blues bid to move into the top four before the international break. Reece Heaton will take you through the action as it happens.
Two big blows for Chelsea before the game this evening, Christian Pulisic will not take part after the American picked up a hamstring injury in the warm-up against Burnley last week and German midfielder Kai Havertz tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday meaning that he’ll have to self isolate for two weeks.
STARTING LINEUPS
Here are the teams that both managers have set out for tonight:
Just the one change to the Chelsea side who beat Rennes in the Champions League in midweek.
Mateo Kovacic comes in for Jorginho in midfield.
Ethan Ampadu who is on loan from Chelsea cannot play against his parent club.
He, Ben Osborn and Oli McBurnie are replaced by Oliver Norwood, John Lundstram and David McGoldrick.
LAST TIME OUT
McGoldrick scored his first two Premier League goals of his professional career and secured an emphatic win for the Blades when the teams met in July last season.
The teams are out on the pitch for their pre-match preparations:
Chelsea could make it six games in a row where they’ve kept a clean sheet in all competitions and also have the chance to move to third in the table going into the international break.
You have to go all the way back to 1992 for Sheffield United’s last league win at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, will they end that 28-year drought and pick up their first three points of the season?
Here’s what the managers had to say before kick off this evening:
Here come the teams! Kick off at Stamford Bridge is now imminent, who will come out victorious tonight?
The teams take a minute silence for Remembrance Day, and to the British soldiers who lost their lives in the First World War.
KICK OFF – Chelsea get the ball rolling for what hopes to be a good game this evening.
3′ CHANCE AND SAVE! Tammy Abraham feeds the ball out wide to Reece James who gets the ball in the box back to Abraham who attempts to flick it into the far post, but his flick finds Ben Chilwell who is waiting to tap it in but a good save from Ramsdale keeps the scores level.
7′ CHANCE! Sheffield Utd have started the game well here and have enjoyed a fair bit of possession, John Egan’s lofted pass finds George Baldock out on the right and Chilwell loses his footing meaning Baldock is able to take the shot but Eduoard Mendy gets his hands to it which leads to a corner for the Blades.
8′ GOAL – Chelsea 0 – 1 Sheffield United (McGoldrick) He’s scored against them again!
8′ Sheffield United have started the game brilliantly! A succession of corners for The Blades pays off as it’s played short and Sander Berge’s shot is back heeled into the net by McGoldrick, Chelsea need to wake up here…
14′ Chelsea now keeping possession but Sheffield United are preventing them from creating any clear openings, Mason Mount’s shot from the left hand side is comfortably saved by Ramsdale.
21′ SHOT! Sheffield United are growing in confidence and Max Lowe’s shot from about 25 yards is straight at Mendy.
22′ GOAL – Chelsea 1 – 1 Sheffield United (Tammy Abraham) Great response!
23′ LEVEL! Fantastic response by Chelsea, they’ve had a decent amount of possession and they play it out on the right-hand side to Kovacic who cuts it back to Abraham and his fumbled shot loops over Egan and the ball ends up in the back of the net, disappointing from Sheffield United who were starting to gain in confidence.
The drought has ended for Abraham.
30′ CROSSBAR! Chelsea now looking dangerous, Hakim Ziyech’s free-kick out on the right-hand side is pushed out by Ramsdale and then comes out to Timo Werner who whacks the crossbar from very close range, should be 2 – 1.
33′ GOAL! Chelsea 2 – 1 Sheffield United (Ben Chilwell) You can’t say that it hasn’t been coming!
33′ Chelsea now in full control of the game! Another great cross from Ziyech who finds Chilwell lurking at the back post and he taps it in for 2 – 1, very good comeback from Chelsea who suffered an early setback.
The Moroccan has been emphatic so far for The Blues!
38′ SAVE! Sheffield United are all over the place at the back! Ramsdale makes the save from Chilwell’s headed effort from a corner, Chris Wilder needs to sort out his defence at half-time.
Chelsea’s new number 9?
42′ SAVE! Mendy called into action twice as the corner comes in from the Blades, The Senegalese keeper flaps at the ball nervously and then seconds later, a shot from Lundstram is saved by the new Chelsea number one, a warning call for The Blues.
45′ ADDITIONAL TIME! 2 added minutes to the first half
HALF TIME – Chelsea 2 – 1 Sheffield United
Half time at Stamford Bridge, Sheffield United took a deserved lead through David McGoldrick eight minutes in, but Chelsea have responded brilliantly by grabbing two goals from Abraham and Chilwell.
Can Frank Lampard’s side continue that spell of dominance in the second half? Or can Wilder motivate his players to replicate their good start from the first half and carry it into the second?
Will Gareth Southgate take this into consideration for the upcoming internationals?
KICK OFF – The Blades get the second half underway, what can we expect in the remainder of the game?
46′ GREAT TACKLE! Kovacic is played 1 on 1 with Ramsdale but a fantastic challenge by Chris Basham prevents the shot and concedes the corner, brilliant challenge!
53′ Chelsea having all of the ball at the moment, Sheffield United are happy to just sit back and then hit on the counter when they can.
Embed from Getty Images56′ CHANCE! Another chance for Chelsea, some good linkup play from Kovacic and Mount on the edge of the box who finds Abraham who then finds Ziyech and his effort is deflected by Egan’s head out for a corner.
57′ CHANCE AND SAVE! This should be game over, Abraham’s shot from a corner is blocked by Blades defenders, the ball then comes back into the box and Ramsdale pushes it out just in time as Abraham was about to clock onto the ball and score.
61′ SUBSTITUTION! A double substitution for The Blades as Wilder looks to tweak a few changes to his team.
64′ SAVE! Chelsea’s free-kick from 25 yards out is hit well by James as he looks to put his effort into the top left, Ramsdale is quick to parry it away though.
68′ Sheffield United have created nothing in this second half and they look set to be rock bottom of the league going into the international break with no wins to their name, is Wilder possibly feeling the pressure?
70′ SUBSTITUION! Kovacic looks to have picked up an ankle injury.
74′ BOOKING! First booking of the game goes to Berge after pulling Kante’s shirt.
76′ GOAL – Chelsea 3 – 1 Sheffield United (Thiago Silva) Another assist for Ziyech!
76′ Chelsea win a free-kick near the corner and another extraordinary ball from Ziyech finds Silva who heads it in at the far post for his first Chelsea goal! A great performance from Lampard’s side!
77′ CHANCE! Ziyech again! An unbelievable ball finds Werner through on goal, but he shoots with his first touch and loops over the ball, complete dominance.
79′ GOAL – Chelsea 4 – 1 Sheffield United (Werner) The floodgates have well and truly opened!
79′ No mistake second time round for Werner! The ball scrambles in the midfield between Blades players and then finds Werner who has plenty of space down the centre and just smashes it in, Sheffield United absolutely shambolic.
Werner regains his crown!
Here’s how the 3rd goal played out!
85′ SUBSTITUTION! Chelsea make a change as they cruise through these last five minutes.
90′ ADDITIONAL TIME! Three minutes of stoppage time here at Stamford Bridge.
90′ SAVE! Ramsdale hasn’t had the best of nights, he tips over Mason Mount’s thumping effort just, Chelsea win the corner.
FULL TIME – Chelsea 4 – 1 Sheffield United – Chelsea cruise through the second half and take all three points going into the international break!
A Hakim Ziyech masterclass of assists means Chelsea take all three points and move into third place for the time being.
But for Sheffield United, they sit rock bottom and are still without a league win this season.
Superb Performance!
