Here's all your latest football.london Chelsea headlines on Saturday, February 19.
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea latest as Storm Eunice rips through London amid red warning
Chelsea are finally set to get back to Premier League this weekend as they travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace.
Ahead of the game, there have been some doubts over whether the clash in Croydon would be able to go ahead.
Chelsea Under-23s match with Tottenham Hotspur on Friday night was postponed due to the high winds of Storm Eunice, with some worrying that the Blues’ trip to Selhurst Park could fall to the same fate.
However, as of the time of writing, the match is scheduled to go ahead as planned, with the weather forecast to abate by Saturday morning.
That news will of course be a big boost to Chelsea who still have their Premier League home matches with Arsenal and Leicester City still to reschedule.
Read the full story here.
Storm Eunice chaos
Chelsea have announced their Premier League 2 clash with Tottenham has been postponed due to high winds.
The Blues under-23 side were set to play against their local rivals at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Friday evening but have been forced into the decision with a Met Office red weather warning, meaning there is a danger to life, currently in place for much of south and east England.
Londoners have been advised to stay at home with gusts of up to 80mph predicted with public transport heavily impacted. The O2 Arena in Greenwich has seen a giant gap torn into it's side after being battered by the winds.
Chelsea's statement read: "Today's PL2 game at home against Tottenham has been postponed due to high winds.
"The Met Office has issued a red warning for much of Friday in London and the south-east of England, the highest level which carries a danger to life, and has advised against all but essential travel from home."
It's not expected this will impact Chelsea's game against Crystal Palace later today.
Read more here.
Patrick Vieira message
Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has labelled Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea Club World Cup win as a 'fantastic' achievement and has sent a nine-word message to the German ahead of Saturday's London derby.
It's well known by now but Tuchel has helped Roman Abramovich complete the full clean sweep of trophies won under the Russian's tenure with his third piece of silverware since taking over from Frank Lampard in early 2021.
Chelsea's tense 2-1 win over Copa Libertadores Palmeiras was largely down to Kai Havertz's game winning moment yet again in the major final but also Tuchel's tactics during the game which ensured that the Blues avoided de ja vu in a competition they had bad history in due to what Rafa Benitez did back in 2012 against Corinthians.
Now, the likes of Jeff Stelling and Craig Burley have tried to play down the achievement, but Vieira himself has disagreed with the pair as he sent his nine-word congratulatory message to the former Borussia Dortmund boss.
He said in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon: "I think it’s a fantastic achievement as a manager."
Read more here.
Abraham returm
Chelsea have been backed to re-sign £68million Tammy Abraham in the future to make up for the current Romelu Lukaku mistake, something that Glen Johnson sees 'happening'.
The Blues made the big decision in the summer to offload their academy graduate to Jose Mourinho in favour of using the £34million plus more to re-sign Lukaku.
A move that has had mixed success with the infamous Sky Italia interview and his FIFA Club World Cup adventure telling the Belgian's story so far on his Stamford Bridge homecoming.
Whilst Lukaku himself is still working to try and adapt to Thomas Tuchel's system in west London, Chelsea's former number 9 has been thriving on the continent under a manager that wants him to become a 'monster' in front of goal.
The 24-year-old has netted 17 goals in 32 games for Roma so far this seasonn- a impressive accolade that has made his decision to leave his boyhood club all but worth it.
Whatever they do decide will not impact Abraham's potential homecoming to Stamford Bridge in the future - something former Chelsea defender Johnson sees as a viable possibility.
“I wouldn’t be totally shocked if Tuchel or Chelsea eventually went on to re-sign Tammy Abraham," he told bettingodds.com.
Read the full story here.
