Chelsea vs Tottenham - as it happened! Antonio Conte's men reach the FA Cup final
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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea have not lost back-to-back matches for over a year, but a defeat to Spurs could prove to be far more damaging than just crashing of the FA Cup. A win for Tottenham would ramp up the pressure ahead of difficult fixtures against Southampton and Everton in the league next week and could well impact the eventual outcome of the Premier League.
The Blues were thoroughly outplayed by a weakened Manchester United team on the weekend and Antonio Conte will be desperate to turn around his team’s fortunes against their North London rivals.
Tottenham Hotspur’s season in recent weeks has been one of improvement and pure optimism. Spurs have not won a noteworthy prize since the Carling Cup in 2008, but Mauricio Pochettino’s men have their eyes on the realistic chance of winning both the FA Cup and the Premier League this season.
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What time is kick-off?
The match will start at 5.15pm on Saturday.
Where can I watch it?
BBC One. Coverage starts at 4.50pm.
It’s a big match for…
Asmir Begovic: The Chelsea second choice keeper has missed three Wembley FA cup ties in his career (twice at Portsmouth and once at Stoke) and it looks as if he will finally get his chance despite it being mostly due to the injury of Thibaut Courtois. Begovic will be hoping for a dream Wembley FA Cup debut as well as a chance to make up for the Manchester United nightmare.
Remember when…
The Chelsea dressing room celebrated a dramatic 2-1 win over Liverpool at a packed out Wembley stadium in 2012.
Player to watch…
Dele Alli. The 21-year-old has scored 16 Premier League goals for Tottenham this season, and just 12 months after picking up the PFA young player of the year award, Alli is once again the favourite to win the prize this year. Alli has a knack of scoring in big games and with the likely absence of Son Heung-Min it will be down to him and Harry Kane to take up the primary goal scoring roles.
Form…
Chelsea: LWWLWW
Tottenham: WWWWWW
Odds…
Chelsea to win: 17/10
Draw: 11/5
Tottenham to win: 9/5
50 MINS
Eriksen takes a short corner to Son, but there is a lack of communication between the two Tottenham lad's and Moses steals possession.
52 MINS
GOAL
Alli scores Tottenham's second to level the scoring, assisted by an impeccable ball from Eriksen. The 25-year-old picks out Alli perfectly, who slides in and slots it past Courtois.
Game on!
55 MINS
Spurs are on the front foot at Wembley now, as Chelsea attempt to regain some order within their side following Alli's equaliser.
57 MINS
Pedro leads a Chelsea attack, before spreading the ball wide to Willian. The Brazilian shows sublime feet with a sequence of step-over's, but his final strike on goal is blocked by Vertonghen.
59 MINS
The ball drops to Alli on the edge of the area, but his strike on goal flies high over the target.
60 MINS
Substitutions:
Batshuayi is replaced by Costa.
Willian is replaced by Hazard.
60 MINS
Substitutions:
Batshuayi is replaced by Costa.
Willian is replaced by Hazard.
63 MINS
Alli presses into the Chelsea half, he looks up and sends a long ball over to Eriksen. The 25-year-old goes for goal with a headed effort, but it's easily collected by Courtois.
65 MINS
Kane finds Eriksen on the right, but he slips before he makes the delivery into the box. The failed connection allows the Chelsea defenders to pick up the pieces and clear the danger.
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