Mauricio Pochettino said he wanted to make Chelsea fans happy again as he ended his four-year exile from the Premier League and he did not let down the Stamford Bridge crowd

It made it more entertaining. Never mind having extra minutes added on each half, let's just stick to two lots of 45 and impose a worldwide ban on defensive midfielders

The Spanish shotstopper has signed a seven-year contract.

No doubt Chelsea will try to spend their way out of trouble - when have they ever done otherwise? - but 2023 already looks like being a tough one for Graham Potter

Damian Willoughby started work at the club this month. Chelsea say messages were sent before employment there

It was rip-roaring stuff from start to finish on a roasting hot afternoon in West London 

The always-optimistic Americans still seem keen to buy into the Premier League.

It was said beforehand that no neutral wanted either side to win, such is the general distaste for their ownerships.

The Belgian striker set an unwanted record at Selhurst Park on Saturday when he managed only seven touches of the ball

They are still 10 points behind the leaders with one more game played, but only a point adrift of second-placed Liverpool with a League Cup Final to play next month and a place already secured in the last 16 of the Champions League

The failure to overcome an impressive Brighton meant Tuchel’s side missed out on the chance to move above Liverpool into second place and are now without a win in four Premier League games

Little wonder that Thomas Tuchel was unwilling to spare his £97.5m striker after Man City defeat

Defeats to Arsenal bookended Conte’s imperial period at Chelsea. Now in charge of another London club he could do with a win to overtake Spurs' arch-rivals

Timing in life, as in the penalty box, is everything. And the Lukaku interview was just about as clumsy as many of his runs this season

Havertz’s fifth goal of the season put Chelsea in charge against a miserable Spurs, but the Germany forward suffered a nasty broken finger in the moment

The Chelsea manager has seen his position strengthened by what could have been a very unsettling episode that, in his own words, brought unnecessary ‘noise’ to what is already a complicated season

The Blues will now hope to complete the job in north London next Wednesday, to reach their first League Cup final since 2019

The duo were ruled out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad, which included forward Timo Werner who had just returned after a Covid isolation of his own

The club-record signing has already said sorry internally at Chelsea and returned to training, but has now moved to address Blues fans personally

Silva completed a one-year contract extension on Monday to remain at Chelsea until the summer of 2023, in which time he will pass his 38th birthday

Belgian striker determined to "clean the mess up", after controversial interview with Sky Italia.

Silva joined the Blues from Paris St Germain during the summer of 2020, and has made 56 appearances

Manchester City moving 10 points clear after the weekend is bad for everyone who isn’t a City fan. To have the season sewn up in the first days of the new year is, to say the least, disappointing

When the dust settled in west London after another breathless encounter involving Liverpool in the capital, both Reds and Blues will reflect on two points dropped

A breathless opening saw Sadio Mane and Mo Salah net for the visitors, who were without manager Jurgen Klopp because of Covid.

This was a result celebrated primarily in the east of Manchester, given that neither team could afford to fall further behind the leaders.

Sunday’s trip to Stamford Bridge is an anniversary game for Liverpool and Van Dijk. It is almost exactly four years since he made his debut against Everton at Anfield.

Reece James suffered a nasty-looking hamstring injury and Andreas Christensen a back problem to lengthen Chelsea’s list of absentees, with seven players still out due to Covid isolation

The Blues blew it again, as Chelsea’s chances of catching Manchester City at the top of the table took another hit when Danny Welbeck scored a late — and well-deserved equaliser for Brighton at Stamford Bridge

Terry, who won 17 trophies over a glittering 19-year career at Stamford Bridge, has been out of work after leaving Aston Villa on the eve of the new season in order to pursue a managerial career

Johnny Nicholson examines the St Stephen's Day weekend's Premier League talking points

Tuchel admitted his celebrations are tempered because of his concerns surrounding his players’ health, having also lost N’Golo Kante and Thiago Silva to injury

Lukaku came off the substitutes’ bench after Covid-19 to score his ninth goal in 10 games against Villa

Tuchel had made it clear that he was going to have to call on his reserves and academy boys as a wave of illness compounded the club’s injury list

Kovacic has not played since late October due to a hamstring strain, with Kante not taking the field since late November

The Blues boss wants to safeguard the bonds built among his Stamford Bridge stars, with Tuchel’s talented squad described as “like a family” this week by Mason Mount

Technical problems and a material error resulted in the original draw being declared void

At the end of this dramatic match in west London, over 20 players were involved in a mass confrontation.

Rudiger is reportedly in line for a massive payday, with a number of Europe’s top clubs willing to quadruple the Chelsea defender’s current wage

N’Golo Kante remains sidelined with a knee issue, while Jorginho has been forced to play through the pain of a back niggle and will now miss Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Zenit

Chelsea defender Azpilicueta is believed to be nearing his exit from Stamford Bridge, while Manchester United have joined Newcastle in the race for Barca's Ousmane Dembele

Arthur Masuaku’s bizarre late strike sent Chelsea spinning to a 3-2 defeat at West Ham in a rip-roaring London derby.

Republic of Ireland skipper Katie McCabe approaches Sunday’s 50th Women’s FA Cup Final full of confidence after Arsenal’s flying start to the season and two player of the match performances over the international break.

The game disrupted for over half an hour by a medical emergency when a Watford supporter needed treatment in the stands after suffering cardiac arrest