LIVE BLOG

FULL TIME: Chelsea well and truly beaten, not much else to say here. Nothing worked on the day. Full credit to Sheffield United too. 3-0 is the final result.

90+1min: Another chance for the Blades to make it four as Baldock dispossesses Jorginho and squares to Osborn who then plays in Stevens but his shot is too wayward.

90min: Chelsea throwing in a succession of crosses that amount to nothing.

87min: Abraham receives in the area, turns and shoots from close-range but Jagielka is there to block his effort with a diving tackle.

86min: Hudson-Odoi crosses for Abraham, who gets a header on target but it doesn’t trouble Henderson.

83min: Mousset almost makes it four in a similar situation to the third goal.

76min: Goal. Sheffield United. Sheffield United break, McGoldrick plays it wide to Mousset who returns the favour - Rudiger meets the cross but fails to effectively clear it over any distance at all. McGoldrick is there to clean up. 3-0.

74min: Hudson-Odoi on, Reece James off. Is this.. 4-2-4?

72min: Azpilicueta shoots from distance but O’Connell gets an early block in, it’s deflected for a corner. The set-piece is met by Rudiger who can only glance the ball towards the back post; Abraham gets contact on it but it’s too high and wide and he cannot find the target.

70min: Another shaky moment as an Enda Stevens cross almost finds Lys Mousset at the near post.

69min: It’s a bird, it’s a plane - no it’s Phil Jagielka subbed on for Chris ‘HMS’ Basham.

66min: Olivier Giroud replaces Pulisic with Chelsea moving to a 3-5-2 and he’s immediately involved - he attempts a first-time volley from Rudiger’s long pass, the contact on it is decent but the ball goes wide of the goal.

65min: Abraham knocks down for Barkley who plays to Pulisic at the edge of the area, he gets a shot away which is saved by Henderson.

63min: Lys Mousset and John Lundstram replace Oli McBurnie and Sander Berge respectivey.

60min: Barkley’s free-kick crashes into the wall.

59min: Abraham finally gets his head to a cross from James but it results in a corner, which leads to some retention near the Blades’ penalty area and Barkley is felled by Berge for a free-kick.

57min: More of the same - this time from Pulisic but after he (initially) promisingly won the ball back from O’Connell near the penalty area. However, tempo was then subsequently slowed as the Blades managed to get enough men back.

55min: Two crosses in quick succession from either wingback are to no avail, is this Chelsea’s plan in the second half?

54min: Osborn threatens down the left once more, Pulisic steals the ball off him but Chelsea’s break amounts to nothing.

52min: A rapid exchange involving McBurnie, McGoldrick and Basham sees a cross fizzed through to an onrushing Osborn in the penalty area but it’s cleared away for a corner.

49min: James and Willian combine on the right, James crosses with four bodies in the box but the result is a wayward Marcos Alonso header.

48min: Jorginho is dispossessed by Osborn near the centre circle, he runs towards the right flank but is seen to by Reece James.

47min: Chris Basham strides into the Chelsea penalty area but is crowded out.

SECOND HALF: Two changes from Lampard at the break, Antonio Ruediger and Marcos Alonso have come on while Mason Mount and Andreas Christensen have gone off. Chelsea have switched to a 3-4-3 with Azpilicueta at right-centre back.

HALF-TIME: Much improvement needed.

45+2min: Chelsea win a corner as Sheffield head clear a James cross. Willian takes, McBurnie clears. Half-time.

43min: James goes for a piledriver, which Henderson saves but palms straight out into the area. Alas, no Chelsea player there to strike.

36min: Abraham knocks a long-ball down for Pulisic to run onto, but he can’t quite squirm past two defenders and the half-chance is gone.

33min: Goal. Sheffield United. James and Willian get destroyed on the Chelsea right, in comes the cross and an absolutely unmarked McBurnie heads into the corner of the net. Easy as you like. 2-0, Sheffield.

30min: More of the same, with more of the same outcome. Sheffield looking quite comfortable, unsurprisingly.

28min: Chelsea keeping the ball in Sheffield’s half, but not making much actual progress against their organized defending.

23min: Water break and Chelsea in need of some serious improvement in tempo and impetus.

18min: Goal. Sheffield United. Chelsea fail to clear after a spell of passing from the home side, Mount trying to run it clear instead of just booting it out, and Sheffield switch to the far post, where Kepa makes a huge save on a first-time volley that deflects off Barkley and James. Chelsea defenders don’t react to the rebound, McGoldrick does. 1-0, Sheffield.

15min: Willian’s turn to hammer a cross straight out of bounds.

14min: Chelsea keep the ball for a couple minutes, playing out with control and setting up shop in the final third, but an Azpilicueta left-footed cross is poor and straight out of bounds. Disappointing end to that phase of play.

10min: Christensen down injured and it’s not looking too good. Looks to have twisted his right ankle pretty badly. But apparently he’s good to play.

7min: Chelsea build much better this time, and James eventually fires in a very nice cross. Pulisic makes the far post run and gets a head to it, but cannot quite get it on target. Decent chance, that.

5min: Chelsea turn the ball over in our defensive third and Sheffield create a cross, which James heads clear for a corner. In that comes, Kepa gets a hand to it but it’s not a convincing punch and Sheffield have a snap-shot from the top of the area. Fortunately, it’s always rising as it rockets over the bar.

3min: Baldock into the book early for taking out Pulisic.

2min: Jorginho drives forward and plays square to Barkley, who goes for a 30-yard shot, which is easily saved by Henderson.

1min: Sheffield attack immediate down the Chelsea right, Mount clears the low cross for a corner. That’s played short before a cross comes in, which is punched clear by Kepa, but Sheffield were offside anyway.

KICK-OFF: Chelsea in all blue. Sheffield United in their traditional white-red stripes. A brief tribute to Jack Charlton, who passed away yesterday, as well as the now usual taking of the knee before kick-off, and we’re off! The home side get us underway.

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Chelsea play first among our closest rivals for the top four — Leicester City, one point behind, play tomorrow (Bournemouth, away); Manchester United, two points behind, play Monday (Southampton, home) — and thus have a chance to put pressure on them to keep up the chase.

Is it a must win? But of course.

Two changes for the Blues from Tuesday, with Jorginho and Abraham restored. Young midfielder Lewis Bate gets the open spot on the bench after Gilmour’s injury.

Here we go!

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Sheffield United starting lineup (3-5-2):
Henderson | O’Connell, Egan, Basham | Stevens, Osborn, Norwood, Berge, Baldock | McBurnie, McGoldrick

Substitutes from: Jagielka, Zivkovic, Mousset, Moore, K.Freeman, Lundstram, Sharp, Rodwell, Robinson

Chelsea starting lineup (4-3-3):
Arrizabalaga | Azpilicueta (c), Zouma, Christensen, James | Mount, Jorginho, Barkley | Pulisic, Abraham, Willian

Substitutes from: Caballero, Rüdiger, Alonso, Bate, Loftus-Cheek, Kovačić, Hudson-Odoi, Giroud, Batshuayi

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Date / Time: Saturday, July 11, 2020, 17.30 BST; 12:30pm EDT; 10pm IST
Venue: Bramall Lane, Sheffield, England
Referees: Andre “Eagle Eyes” Marriner (on pitch); Andy “Not Bobby” Madley (VAR)

On TV: Sky Sports Main Event (UK); NBC, Universo (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); SuperSport 3 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)

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Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!