The majority of Premier League games will go ahead, as planned this weekend, but two high-profile fixtures, at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford, have been postponed. Chelsea’s hosting of Liverpool and Manchester United’s welcoming Leeds United are now not going to happen after all, due to police officers having to be redeployed in order to provide security for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
British authorities anticipate that over a million people will arrive in London during the 48 hours that will proceed the funeral next Monday morning. So that means Chelsea gets the weekend off from playing a match and they’ll have just one clash on the docket instead of two now. It comes in continental competition, at home against RB Salzburg.
Chelsea vs RB Leipzig FYIs
Kick: Wed. Sept 14, 8pm, Stamford Bridge
Competition: UCL Group E, Matchday 2 of 6
WATCH: Click the banners in this post to access the live stream
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go here
After Extra Time Podcast: Spotify Apple
Google Result Probability: Chelsea 72% RB Salzburg 11% Draw 17%
UCL Group Standings: Chelsea: 4th, 0pts RB Leipzig 3rd, 1pt
Chelsea Team News
Just two team fitness concerns here for the hosts: the very often injured N’Golo Kante (hamstring) and No. 1 Edouard Mendy (knee issue). The much more interesting story angle here, obviously, is the beginning of a new managerial era.
Thomas Tuchel got off to a slow start this season, punctuated by last week’s disaster in the Champions League. He called out the attitude of his own team in post match media and then got sacked the next day. Graham Potter was confirmed as his replacement the very next day.
Tuchel has since penned a gut-wrenching, emotional statement about how much Chelsea meant to him, and how painful it was to get sacked by the west London club.
And now, amid a national period of mourning, the 47-year-old former Brighton coach takes over the biggest money club in that mourning country’s capital city. Albeit in a UCL contest, not a domestic clash.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.