Chelsea v Tottenham – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Chelsea host Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening in a massive Premier League clash near the top of the table. These two London rivals have no love for each other and with José Mourinho returning to the ground where he won three league titles, there will be an extra layer of needle between these two teams.

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Chelsea Form

Southampton started the season with back-to-back defeats including a 5-2 thrashing at home to Tottenham. They have responded brilliantly by winning five and drawing two of their next seven Premier League matches. That run included four clean sheets and a comeback from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 at Chelsea. In their last match, they led through Theo Walcott but could only draw 1-1 away at Wolves.

Chelsea Team News

Chelsea are expected to recall Hakim Ziyech, N’Golo Kanté and Reece James after the trio were rested and only used as substitutes in midweek against Rennes. Thiago Silva missed the league win at Newcastle last week but will start this match.

Lampard’s only real selection call is over whether to go with Mateo Kovacic or Kai Havertz in midfield. The latter has only just recovered from Covid-19. Christian Pulisic should be back amongst the substitutes after injury.

Chelsea Motivation

Chelsea’s motivation against Spurs is always sky-high. It is arguably the club’s biggest rivalry so all attention will be on this match and Lampard will play for the three points against his former coach, Mourinho. The Chelsea boss admitted the game has been on his mind for a while.

The question for the Chelsea boss is whether to play a 4-3-3 shape or to switch to a back three considering that the latter structure brought two wins in the league against Tottenham last season.

Spurs Form

Spurs are in amazing form and top the league. With six wins and two draws in their last eight in the Premier League, they are not far off being considered genuine title challengers. With three clean sheets in their last four PL matches, the backline is looking solid and the 2-0 win last time out against Man City showed how all the players have bought into Mourinho’s methods.

In the Europa League, they rotate heavily and therefore those results tell us little about their chances against Chelsea. Tottenham host Ludogorets on Thursday night.

Spurs Team News

Mourinho lost Matt Doherty to Covid-19 during the international break so Serge Aurier will play at right-back. In the win against Man City, Toby Alderweireld went off with a serious groin injury so Joe Rodon could start in his place here as Davinson Sanchez appears to the fourth in the pecking order.

Giovanni Lo Celso scored off the bench against Man City and is pushing to start whilst it remains to be seen if Gareth Bale is recalled or if Steven Bergwijn keeps his place on the wing.

Spurs Motivation

Spurs will be extremely motivated and will play to win this game. They are likely to do so in a defensive, counter-attacking setup where they let Chelsea have 60+% of the ball. With a very physical team, expect Tottenham to look to commit plenty of fouls and try to provoke Chelsea to lose focus.

Mourinho will want a victory but would probably be satisfied with a draw and maintaining a lead over Chelsea in the table.

Key Stats

Chelsea are seven PL matches unbeaten overall (4W, 3D)

Tottenham are on the longest unbeaten run in the PL – 8 matches

Spurs are chasing a 5th consecutive PL win for the first time since December 2018

Spurs have beaten Chelsea once at Stamford Bridge since 1990, a 3-1 win in 2018

Chelsea have won their last 3 home matches against Tottenham

Timo Werner has scored 8 goals in his last 7 matches for club and country and scored against Tottenham for RB Leipzig last season

Prediction

This will be a very physical, high tempo game. Both teams are likely to score but Chelsea’s record at home against Tottenham could prove telling.