Chelsea travels to fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur this weekend in Sunday’s vital clash. Both teams will be looking to make a statement on Sunday, with both well and truly in the hunt for a coveted Champions League spot.
Going off previous meetings, especially in this fixture last year, this is set to be an absolute blockbuster. Can Chelsea’s blistering counterattacking football hurt Spurs’ high line, or will Ange Postecogelu’s high-intensity football prove overwhelming for the SW6 side?
Here is the Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea preview!
Unstoppable Blues
The Blues will be coming off a fantastic run of performances going into this game. With four victories and one draw in their previous five games across all competitions, they are in fine form and gaining serious momentum. During this stretch, Chelsea have scored 13 goals, let up just three goals, and kept two clean sheets.
The West London outfit will try to maintain their recent form going into this huge fixture after thrashing Southampton 5-1 on the road.
The Blues’ emphatic win against the Saints has allowed some of their significant attackers, including Cole Palmer, to gain some important confidence heading into Sunday’s momentous clash with their London rivals.
A win for Maresca’s men would give them a chance to potentially prove their credentials for more than just a top-4 finish. Although Manchester City’s decline has received a lot of attention with the media recently, Chelsea have quietly conducted their business in an exciting manner and are currently in second place, seven points behind league leaders Liverpool and ahead of Arsenal on goal difference. Could this be a statement win for the Blues against a ‘big 6’ and, more importantly, a fierce London rival?
Inconsistent Spurs
Spurs will enter the contest in fluctuating form. Ange Postecoglu’s kryptonite recently has been his side’s inconsistencies, which has put them in a difficult league position. Postecoglou has reaffirmed his wish for his team to produce more consistently, but they still have work to do with injuries not on their side. Following their recent emphatic victory over Manchester City, the North Londoners drew 1-1 with Marco Silva’s high-flying Fulham team, which has the Spurs’ faithful whelmed yet again. To add insult to injury, Spurs suffered a 1-0 defeat on the road to Bournemouth on Thursday due to a header from the young Dean Huijsen. Following this defeat, their record shows that in their last six games across all competitions, they have only managed one victory, two draws, and three losses. They have conceded 10 goals while also scoring 10 goals during this period.
On the back of their recent setback to Bournemouth, Spurs will look to return to North London to stabilise their form by putting a dent in their London rivals momentum.
Postecoglou said in the lead-up to this game that “I’m going to fight with my resolve even stronger.” Could this be the weekend that the resolution for Spurs appears? For this to happen, tallismen Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski, and Heung Min Son will need to be on their A game to damage Chelsea’s improving defence. They’ll be up to the challenge, and with the excitement this team can provide, this should be a cracker. A win would see Spurs put pressure on the teams in the Champions League spots and hence restore faith in the fans, who are vying to compete at the top. Will their fortunes begin to turn again, or will their inconsistencies prevail once more?
Team News:
Due to the absence of several important players, Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou will have to contend with a weak defence for a few weeks. Several first-team players, including Richarlison, Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, and Micky van de Ven, will be sidelined for the foreseeable future.
For the visitors, Enzo Maresca gave some of his key starters, like Pedro Neto and Nicolas Jackson, rests for the last game. The Chelsea team saw wholesale changes once again against the Saints, which ultimately proved successful. With this in mind, Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku will more than likely make room for the two aforementioned attackers to return to the starting lineup for this weekend. As well as this, we should see Levi Colwill return to the team with the second spot at centre back up for grabs. This is because both Wesley Fofana and Reece James remain out for several weeks owing to injuries.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea Head to Head:
Over the past few years, these two clubs have played one another frequently in the league and cup competitions. Although Chelsea have the more significant record, Tottenham has gradually begun to prove themselves with a few victories as well.
This wasn’t the case last season however as the West Londoners completed a double over their rivals. The Blues came out on top in a 4-1 thriller in this game in North London last year. Red cards for Destiny Udogie and Christian Romero saw Chelsea eventually break Spurs’ brave high line, which saw Nicolas Jackson score his first Chelsea hattrick.
From this, the Blues have won three of the previous five games. There has been one draw and one victory for Spurs in this period.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea Prediction:
It is clear from both teams’ recent performances that Maresca’s team has performed noticeably better. The Blues have a lot of momentum going into this match and have the ability to put pressure on Ange’s struggling Tottenham team. Although Spurs won’t go down without a fight, the Blues recent flashes of quality might prove too much for the hosts. In my opinion, if Maresca’s star men perform as well as they did during their thumping of Southampton midweek, then they should prevail and keep the pressure on leaders Liverpool.