Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are squaring off in the Sydney Super Cup at the Accor Stadium in a historic pre-season clash between two London rivals.
This marks the first time in the fixture’s history that the two clubs have met outside the United Kingdom, with more than 80,000 fans packed into the stadium in Australia.
Both clubs have been heavily active in the transfer market this summer, with Tottenham completing a £100 million-plus deal for Sandro Tonali and Chelsea making their own big-money moves.
Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea and Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham are both managing player availability carefully, with several stars still returning from the World Cup’s latter stages.
That has created an opportunity for younger prospects to impress alongside established first-team regulars in what promises to be a competitive and entertaining pre-season encounter.
Tottenham have named the following starting lineup: Kinsky; Gray, Van Hecke, Davies, Robertson; Tonali, Bergvall, Solomon, Gallagher, Tel; Solanke.
Chelsea are lining up as: Sharman-Lowe; Palestra, Fofana, Colwill, Hato; Essugo, Lavia; Estevao, Palmer, Gittens; Joao Pedro.
Robert Sanchez misses out for Chelsea due to a minor injury, with young goalkeeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe handed another opportunity to impress Xabi Alonso between the posts.
Conor Gallagher, who lines up for Tottenham against his former club Chelsea, has spoken about how Roberto De Zerbi helped put him back together ahead of this Sydney meeting.
Mykhailo Mudryk’s situation has also taken a significant turn ahead of the game, with the FA confirming his disciplinary proceedings have now been resolved.
The 25-year-old had been handed an initial four-year suspension for an anti-doping violation after testing positive for meldonium, but appealed his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“After a long battle, the four-year ban that was imposed on me has been rescinded and I am free to resume my career with immediate effect,” Mudryk said in a statement.
“As I have always maintained from the outset of this case, I have never knowingly or intentionally taken any banned substance,” he added, expressing gratitude to Chelsea, his teammates and supporters.
Meanwhile, former midfielder Andy Townsend has sparked debate by suggesting Chelsea should consider signing Marcus Rashford this summer as a replacement for Alejandro Garnacho.
“I think Marcus Rashford improves Chelsea’s squad, he is an improvement on Garnacho, that’s for sure,” Townsend told CasinoHawks, adding that a fee of around thirty-five million pounds seemed surprisingly unchallenged.
“At nearly twenty-nine, he’s in his peak, and he needs to be out there more often than not,” Townsend said, noting that Rashford’s Barcelona spell proved he could handle a big club environment.
The post Chelsea And Tottenham Face Off In Sydney As Sandro Tonali, Lucas Bergvall, Cole Palmer And Joao Pedro All Feature appeared first on Gooner Daily.
