Xabi Alonso's Chelsea Faces Tottenham in Pre-Season Showdown
Xabi Alonso is not treating this as a gentle run-out. Not anymore.
Chelsea’s new head coach eased his way into pre-season with a cautious approach to his stars, but a meeting with Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham on Saturday morning changes the temperature. This is only his second game in charge, yet already there is a sense that he wants – and perhaps needs – a statement performance.
Stronger spine, sharper edges
In the previous outing, Alonso held back, stacking his bench with senior names before unleashing a wave of substitutions in the final 25 minutes. Robert Sanchez, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Cole Palmer, Marco Palestra, Estevao, Jamie Gittens and Joao Pedro all arrived together, a reminder of the depth at his disposal and the experimentation still under way.
Against Tottenham, that kind of staggered authority may come from the start.
Sanchez is in line to replace Teddy Sharman-Lowe in goal, a move that would immediately stiffen Chelsea’s spine. Colwill, still building his sharpness after a disrupted spell, is expected to step into the starting XI at centre-back, where Alonso wants rhythm as much as solidity.
Summer signing Marco Palestra is pushing for his first start in royal blue. He has waited, watched and now senses an opening. The complication comes at left-back, where Landon Emenalo has quietly become one of the early winners of Alonso’s reign. The coach has clearly taken to him during the summer, and dropping a player on an upward curve is never a simple call in a dressing room still learning a new voice.
Young sparks and fan favourites
Some of the most compelling auditions in pre-season have come from the lesser-known names.
Reggie Watson lit up the game against Western Sydney, his performance instantly resonating with the travelling Chelsea support. He played with the kind of directness and freedom that cuts through the usual pre-season haze, and he has earned another serious look. This Tottenham test offers a different kind of scrutiny, and Alonso knows fans will be watching for signs that Watson’s display was more than a one-off surge.
Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli made his own impression off the bench in that match. Lively, decisive, he changed the tempo when he arrived. He is now pushing for a start, or at the very least a more prominent role from early on, as the coaching staff weigh up who can carry training-ground form into more demanding opposition.
Romeo Lavia, meanwhile, is back in the conversation but not yet back in the firing line. Alonso has confirmed the midfielder is fit after missing the Western Sydney game with hamstring discomfort. Given Lavia’s long and frustrating battle with injuries, Chelsea are expected to resist the temptation to rush him into this one. His season needs a clean run more than it needs a symbolic pre-season cameo.
Attacking reshuffle
Up front, the shape of Alonso’s thinking is starting to emerge.
Dastan Satpayev is aiming to keep his place on the left flank, a role he has begun to make his own with a mix of work rate and incision. On the opposite side, Cole Palmer is poised to step in from the start, bringing creativity, control and a cutting edge from the right. With Palmer drifting inside and Satpayev stretching the pitch, Chelsea’s attack suddenly looks far less predictable.
Reggie Walsh is set to continue in the No10 role, a sign of growing trust in his ability to knit the play and find spaces between the lines. Ahead of him, Liam Delap is expected to step aside for Joao Pedro, whose movement and link-up play could give Alonso a more fluid focal point against a Tottenham side that presses aggressively and punishes hesitation.
This is pre-season, but the choices are pointed. Every selection tells the squad – and the stands – something about the direction of travel.
New faces on hold, injuries in the air
Not everyone will be involved.
Maxence Lacroix, freshly signed from Crystal Palace, will not feature despite Chelsea confirming his arrival on Thursday. His time will come, but not here. The same applies to Morgan Rogers, who remains on his post-World Cup holidays and will join up later.
There are fitness question marks elsewhere. The club are still waiting to see whether Jorrel Hato or Mamadou Sarr can play any part after both missed the Western Sydney match. Their availability could reshape Alonso’s defensive options, or force him to lean harder on Colwill and Fofana earlier than planned.
Filip Jorgensen, by contrast, is already out of the picture, having flown home to complete a transfer. Another door closed, another space opened for someone else to seize.
Pre-season friendlies rarely define a campaign. But with Alonso bedding in, De Zerbi in the opposite dugout and several young players sensing opportunity, this one carries a sharper edge than most July fixtures. For some, it is just another warm-up. For others, it might be the day they convince a new manager they belong in his first serious team sheet of the season.
