Chelsea XI vs. Tottenham: Alonso Auditions—Injury News, Predicted Lineup

Chelsea’s incoming boss will be keeping a close eye on how the Blues conclude a disappointing season.

Cole Palmer has had an indifferent campaign. | Visionhaus/Getty Images

Chelsea were unable to atone for their Premier League collapse at Wembley, as Manchester City claimed FA Cup glory at the spirited Blues‘ expense.

A six-game losing run was at least brought to an end via a 1–1 draw at Anfield, and Chelsea, as bad as they’ve been over the past couple of months, still have an outside shot of securing Champions League soccer for 2026–27—even if it’d take a minor miracle.

News of Xabi Alonso’s impending arrival should embolden Stamford Bridge ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s midweek arrival, with the visitors needing just a point from their remaining two games to remain in the top flight.

Ensuring that Spurs supporters are sweating on the final day will be among Chelsea’s priorities on Tuesday.

---

Chelsea Wary About Levi Colwill’s Minutes

Colwill has only just recovered from a long-term knee injury. | Robin Jones/Getty Images

Chelsea appear to have come out of Saturday’s FA Cup final unscathed. Still, McFarlane has said a cautious stance will be taken regarding Levi Colwill’s workload after his recovery from a long-term knee injury.

“We need to be careful with Levi. He’s obviously off the back of a very serious injury and has performed well in those two games [vs. Liverpool and Man City]. We’ll see how he looks today [Monday], how he reports, and we’ll make a decision on that,” the Chelsea boss said.

Trevoh Chalobah and Tosin Adarabioyo are on stand-by.

Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho were both used off the bench at Wembley and are in contention for midweek starts. However, the hosts are without Estêvão, who’ll miss the World Cup with a hamstring injury, as well as Jamie Gittens.

Jesse Derry’s season is over after sustaining a nasty head injury in the 3–0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

• ⚠️ Key injuries, doubts, suspended: Levi Colwill, Estêvão, Jamie Gittens, Mykhailo Mudryk, Jesse Derry.
• 🔢 Predicted formation: 4-2-3-1

---

Chelsea Predicted Lineup vs. Tottenham

Chelsea won’t take any chances with two key defenders. | FotMob

GK: Robert Sánchez—The headguard-donning Spaniard will once again attempt to channel his inner Petr Čech when Spurs come to town, having failed to keep out Antoine Semenyo’s sublime flick at Wembley.

RB: Malo Gusto—Gusto started in the cup final as Reece James was used in midfield, and the Frenchman is likely to continue in McFarlane’s back four midweek.

CB: Wesley Fofana—It’s been a rather difficult end to the season for the undeniably talented Fofana. He’ll have to prove his worth to the new manager in the summer.

CB: Trevoh Chalobah—Colwill should be available for minutes, but no chances will be taken after he completed back-to-back full 90s. Chalobah is a more than adequate deputy.

LB: Marc Cucurella—His left-wing stint will come to an end here, with McFarlane restoring the eager Spaniard to his back four. Jorrel Hato is emerging as a handy alternative for the Blues.

DM: Andrey Santos—Reece James’s recent fitness setback could mean his minutes are managed against Spurs, with the skipper potentially only playing a role off the bench. In that case, we could see Santos make a rare start under the interim manager.

DM: Moisés Caicedo—The Ecuadorian could probably do with some respite, having started and finished Chelsea’s six previous games. Caicedo has picked up a booking in each of his last four outings, too.

RM: Cole Palmer—Palmer’s meek campaign continued at Wembley, and the Stamford Bridge faithful will be hoping the instinctive playmaker has saved his best work for their final home outing of 2025–26.

AM: Enzo Fernández—The Argentine came closest to equalizing for the Blues at Wembley, and will be particularly keen to hurt the survival hopes of Chelsea’s London rivals.

LM: Pedro Neto—Chelsea supporters will soon have fresh faces to marvel about out wide, and not be subjected to energetic left backs performing critical attacking functions. Assuming Cucurella drops back into defense, there should be an opening for Pedro Neto to return to the XI.

ST: João Pedro—The Brazilian has had a great first season in west London, and he loves playing against Spurs. João Pedro has recorded four Premier League goal contributions in two starts against the Lilywhites and was the match-winner in the reverse fixture.

---