Play Predictor champion flies in for VIP visit

The all-expenses paid visit to London allowed Ferdinand his debut visit to the Bridge, where he received an exclusive gift card to spend in the Chelsea Megastore, visited the museum and undertook a personal tour, before watching the Blues from Club Chelsea seats in the West Stand.

Following the game, our Play Predictor champion was also invited into the Directors’ Box where he and his guest met Petr Cech and held some recent additions to the club’s trophy cabinet before experiencing the sights and sounds of London.

Tuchel: We want to prove that we deserve to be the favourites

‘Brentford will be up for it,’ added the German. ‘They play with a lot of enthusiasm and they catch already momentum and all the enthusiasm from getting promoted after so many years when they tried hard. And finally Chelsea comes, and not for a cup game, not for a friendly game, Chelsea arrives for a game in the Premier League and they have so many points on their side, they have such good results and they are doing a fantastic job and the atmosphere will be like this.

‘They will play with a lot of courage, they will play with a lot of confidence, but we cannot be surprised. We know all this and now it’s on us to adapt and to accept the situation like it is. They will not gift us a single inch on the field and we have to be ready mentally, physically and tactically. This is not a match now about knowing the solutions or out-skilling your opponent, this is also a match where we have to match the mentality and the attitude.

‘This is exactly what we did against Southampton. We accepted the role that the other team is maybe the underdog and we were the favourites, but it did not stop us. We played a very intense game and a very nice game of football against Southampton and we try to do the same thing tomorrow.’

Manchester United ticket news

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The number of loyalty points members require to buy a ticket on Monday to our home game against Manchester United next month has been announced…

Gallery: Blues return to Cobham after internationals

The majority of Chelsea’s first-team squad have now returned to training ahead of the Blues’ return to action on Saturday.

German duo Kai Havertz and Timo Werner also returned, after both scoring for their nation earlier in the week. 

It is a quick turnaround for Thomas Tuchel’s men, who make the short trip across west London on Saturday to face Brentford in the Premier League.

Take a look at the best images from this morning’s session below… 

More time to win with Play Predictor!

From today (Thursday), the prediction window will be unlocked and open as soon as each game has finished, instead of 48 hours before kick-off.

This also means you can predict your results within minutes of the match getting underway, giving you time to digest the team news, with each Play Predictor game now closing five minutes before kick-off – instead of an hour!

Following the final whistle against Brentford on Saturday evening, the next Play Predictor window will open allowing fans to predict the outcome of our Champions League encounter against Malmo the following Wednesday 20 October.

Blues Bulletin: Brentford vs Chelsea

Brentford (4-5-1); Moore; Hodson, Dean, Craig, Logan; Donaldson, Forshaw (Saunders 84), Diagouraga, Douglas (c), Forrester (Barron 79); Trotta (Adeyemi 70)
Unused subs: Lee, Dallas, Reeves, Hayes
Scorers: Trotta 42, Forrester 72 (pen)
Manager: Uwe Rosler

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Turnbull; Ivanovic (Azpilicueta 79), Cahill, Terry (c), Cole; Ramires, Lampard; Marin (Mata h/t), Oscar, Bertrand (Ba 81); Torres
Unused subs: Hilario, Ferreira, Ake, Benayoun
Booked: Cahill, Turnbull
Scorers: Oscar 55, Torres 82
Manager: Rafael Benitez

Referee: Jon Moss
Attendance: 12,146

Women’s report: Juventus 1 Chelsea 2

The game would have been done and dusted had it not been for a magnificent intervention from Peyraud-Magnin, as she desperately palmed a fabulous effort from Kerr onto the post when it looked destined for the top corner. With the lead remaining at one, Hayes opted to tighten things up by replacing Ji and Kirby with Sophie Ingle and Jonna Andersson.

Although Juventus forced Berger into action twice in stoppage time, we saw out the game with relative ease to record our first-ever victory in the group stage of the Champions League.

Wolfsburg were victorious in the other game in Group A tonight, beating Servette 5-0. We’ll meet the Swiss side in our next two fixtures in the competition, the first of which is early next month amid a run of four straight games on the road. Before then, the bulk of the squad will link up with their respective national teams during the international break, with our next game taking place on the last weekend in October when we take on Manchester City for a place in the FA Cup final.

Juventus (4-3-3) Peyraud-Magnin; Lundorf, Gama (c), Salvai (Lenzini 73), Boattin; Rosucci (Caruso 81), Pedersen (Zamanian 88), Cernoia; Bonansea (Bonfantini 73), Girelli (Staskova 81), Hurtig
Unused subs Aprile, Hyyrynen, Nilden, Giai, Beccari, Pfattner
Scorer Bonansea 37

Chelsea (3-4-1-2) Berger; Bright, Carter, Eriksson (c); Cuthbert (Fleming 66), Ji (Ingle 75), Leupolz, Reiten; Harder; Kirby (Andersson 84), Kerr
Unused subs Musovic, Telford, Nouwen, England, Mjelde, Charles, Spence, Fox
Scorers Cuthbert 31, Harder 69

Referee Ivana Martincic (Croatia)

2021 Annual Lunch tickets on sale now

To guarantee your seats at this year’s Annual Lunch, tickets are now available to purchase. Your ticket includes a drinks reception, three-course lunch and entertainment, with all proceeds raised on the day going to the Players’ Trust and the Chelsea Foundation. Gold and silver tickets that include a VIP drinks reception, complimentary drinks and your table being hosted by a Blues legend, are also available.

Click here to purchase tickets!

Season ticket holders and members can also enter a ballot to be in with a chance of purchasing a pair of tickets at the reduced price of £40 per person. The ticket ballot will close at 5pm on Tuesday 19 October. Click here for more information and to enter.

We are also asking supporters to share their photos of the 2011/12 Champions League campaign to be included in the evening’s celebrations. You can share your photos by emailing them to specialevents@chelseafc.com.

Juventus vs Chelsea Women preview: Kick-off time, how to follow and much more

The form

Last Wednesday, the Blues faced Wolfsburg at Kingsmeadow and treated fans to an enthralling match. Chelsea took an early lead through a brilliant finish by Sam Kerr, assisted by Ji So-Yun, however two defensive lapses allowed the visitors to go 2-1 up by half-time. Wolfsburg were able to capitalise from a third mistake from the Blues early in the second half to make it 3-1.

Chelsea reacted and a goal from Bethany England in the 51st minute left the Blues only trailing by one. A stoppage-time equaliser from Pernille Harder against her former club then sealed the deal, taking a point from the evening.

Since Wednesday, the Blues went on to beat Barclays Women’s Super League newcomers Leicester City 2-0 with goals from Harder and Kirby.

Juventus have yet to play an English team in the Champions League and head into our match having beaten Servette 3-0 in their opening group game. Juventus have won the Italian Serie A league title for the past four years since forming in 2017. Juve’s last match came last Saturday when they beat Napoli 2-0 in Serie A.