Tottenham host Chelsea in Sunday’s late Premier League kick off hoping to respond positively after a surprising 1-0 loss to Bournemouth during the week.
Ange Postecoglou’s side were unable to overturn Dean Huijsen’s first half strike as the Cherries collected a vital three points on Thursday evening. Saturday’s results mean Spurs have slipped into the bottom half of the table but they will jump up to seventh if they can defeat Enzo Maresca’s high-flying Chelsea this afternoon.
The Blues come into the game on a six-match unbeaten run in the league following a 5-1 mauling of Southampton in their last outing. Maresca’s team sit second just seven points behind leaders Liverpool and with Arne Slot’s men having their game versus Everton postponed yesterday, Chelsea can cut that gap to just four points ahead of a busy Christmas period.
Follow all the action from the Tottenham Hotspur stadium with our live blog below:
GOAL! Tottenham 1-0 Chelsea (Solanke, 5 min)
Marc Cucurella slips on the ball and Brennan Johnson pounces, racing down the right side before crossing for Dominic Solanke, who dives in at the near post and diverts the ball into the top corner. Brilliant goal, capitalising on a disaster for the Chelsea defender.
Lawrence Ostlere8 December 2024 16:36
Tottenham 0-0 Chelsea
4 min: Chelsea earn a corner and as Cole Palmer reaches the quadrant, he’s hit with a barrage of paper balls from Spurs fans. No need for that. A well-worked short corner doesn’t quite end in a header on target, but Chelsea are applying some pressure here.
Lawrence Ostlere8 December 2024 16:34
Kick-off! Tottenham 0-0 Chelsea
2 min: A bright start by Spurs, who drive forwards with Kulusevski through the centre. He finds Solanke on the right of the box but the striker’s cross is blocked, and Chelsea deal with the corner.
Lawrence Ostlere8 December 2024 16:32
Tottenham v Chelsea
The players are out, hands have been shaken, Sandstorm is blasting out around the stadium, and we’re nearly ready for kick-off…
Lawrence Ostlere8 December 2024 16:28
Tottenham vs Chelsea LIVE
Both sides are emerging from the tunnel now, so we’re a few moments from kick-off.
Chris Wilson8 December 2024 16:27
Tottenham v Chelsea – line-ups
Kick-off is just around the corner. A reminder of how the two sides line up today:
Tottenham: Forster; Pedro Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Kulusevski, Bissouma, Sarr; Johnson, Solanke, Son.
Subs: Austin, Spence, Dragusin, Reguilon, Gray, Bergvall, Maddison, Werner, Lankshear.
Chelsea: Sanchez; Caicedo, Badiashile, Colwill, Cucurella; Lavia, Enzo Fernandez; Sancho, Palmer, Pedro Neto; Jackson.
Subs: Jorgensen, Gusto, Disasi, Tosin, Veiga, Dewsbury-Hall, Joao Felix, Madueke, Nkunku.
Lawrence Ostlere8 December 2024 16:23
Match facts
Chelsea have won 35 Premier League games and scored 116 Premier League goals against Tottenham, more than they have vs any other opponent.
The Blues have won five of their seven games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in all competitions (D1 L1), the most wins any visiting side has picked up at the ground since Spurs moved there in 2019.
Nicolas Jackson has scored four goals in his two Premier League games for Chelsea against Tottenham, netting a hat-trick in this exact fixture last season.
Chris Wilson8 December 2024 16:15
Maresca: Chelsea are “ahead of my expectations”
Speaking in his pre-match conference, Maresca said that he had “nothing to add” on talk regarding his side being in the title race.
“I said I don’t think we are there and ready to compete with Arsenal, Liverpool and City. We are not thinking about April, May or June. It’s too early. Things can change quick in football.
On his expectations, he said that Chelsea are “ahead of my expectations”, adding: “In terms of points and how we want to play on and off the ball, I was convinced we’d reach that moment but not so early. It’s because the players are doing fantastic.”
On Spurs, he added: “First of all they have good players and a good manager.
“It’s very clear what they want to do on and off the ball. What kind of problems they have, I don’t know. You have to be there to understand. A fantastic team – they beat City 4-0 two weeks ago.”
Chris Wilson8 December 2024 16:10
Chelsea’s December fixtures
Chelsea’s winter fixtures are altogether more easy to navigate, though there could be some difficult matches in there:
12/12 – Astana v Chelsea, 3.30pm
15/12 – Chelsea v Brentford, 7pm
19/12 – Chelsea v Shamrock Rovers, 8pm
22/12 – Everton v Chelsea, 2pm
26/12 – Chelsea v Fulham, 3pm
30/12 – Ipswich v Chelsea, 3pm
Chris Wilson8 December 2024 16:05
Match facts
Tottenham were unbeaten in their first four Premier League London derbies under Ange Postecoglou (W2 D2) but have lost seven of their last 13 (W4 D2). Five of their six London derby wins under the Australian have been at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, however.
Spurs have kept just one clean sheet in their last 22 Premier League home games (4-0 v Everton this season), a run which started with a 4-1 loss against Chelsea last November.
Since the start of November 2023 no side currently in England’s top four tiers have recorded fewer home league clean sheets than Spurs.
Ange Postecoglou has lost each of his two league games against Chelsea but has only lost his first three top-flight league meetings with three clubs: Adelaide City (1996-97) and Sydney United (1996-97).
Among teams he has played 1,000+ minutes against, Tottenham forward Son Heung-Min’s worst minutes per goal rate in the Premier League is against Chelsea, netting just twice in 16 appearances.
Chris Wilson8 December 2024 16:00