Chelsea out for revenge in EFL Cup against Tottenham after 'footballing lesson' at Wembley, says Gianfranco Zola

Vaishali Bhardwaj20 December 2018

Gianfranco Zola says Chelsea will be out for revenge when they play Tottenham in the EFL Cup semi-finals after a humiliating defeat at Wembley last month.

Chelsea will face their bitter London rivals over two legs after seeing off Bournemouth 1-0 on Wednesday night.

Spurs, who beat north London rivals Arsenal to reach the semi-finals, inflicted a 3-1 defeat on Chelsea in the Premier League back in November.

At the time, Chelsea were unbeaten in all competitions under Maurizio Sarri but were unable to handle Tottenham at the national stadium.

“It could have been better,” Zola said when asked about playing Spurs in the next round. “We are in the semi-finals, though. It looks like both games will be difficult now. But it's fine.

“We are happy because, some time ago, they gave us a good footballing lesson. We're looking forward to challenging them again. Everyone is very excited to be facing them again.

“There are a lot of proud players in our team. Of course they will want to play this game and show we were not the ones playing in that game.

“Too many players under-played. Some of them were hurt. They will be looking forward to it, and really pleased we play against them. I can't wait.”

In Pictures | Chelsea vs Bournemouth | 19/12/2018

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Chelsea have been in the spotlight off the pitch in the past few weeks after Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling was abused at Stamford Bridge before Uefa opened an investigation into alleged anti-Semitic chanting by Chelsea fans during the club’s Europa League draw against MOL Vidi.

When asked whether the game against Spurs provided Chelsea fans with the chance to behave, Zola said: “Absolutely.

“I have no doubts that they will respond to it in a proper way. We have fantastic supporters and I'm sure they'll be supporting respectfully and in the Chelsea way.”

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