Tottenham vs Chelsea Preview – Entertaining Draw Predicted at Wembley

The Premier League returns this weekend after the international break and the most mouth watering game in prospect takes place at Wembley where the unbeaten Chelsea take on bitter rivals Tottenham in a London derby that has increased in intensity after the infamous “battle of Stamford Bridge” where Chelsea scuppered their rivals’ title hopes a few seasons back.

Maurizio Sarri’s team have been extremely impressive so far in his first year in charge cutting a swathe through their opposition and banishing thoughts of last year’s disappointment with their new brand of football dubbed as “Sarri ball”. For Tottenham it has been a mixed bag so far, a promising start including an excellent 3-0 triumph at Old Trafford was quickly forgotten after defeat at Watford quickly followed by a poor showing at home to Liverpool where the 2-1 scoreline seriously flattered Mauricio Pochettino’s side. Spurs have rallied however, and go into the game on the back of three successive wins on the spin.

 

Tottenham vs Chelsea Match Preview Stats

 

Tottenham vs Chelsea – The Key battles

Spurs’ start to the season hasn’t been helped by injuries to key personnel and nowhere has this been more evident than midfield where Cristian Eriksen, Eric Dier, Victor Wanyama and now Moussa Dembélé have all faced spells on the sidelines, however this has allowed the likes of Moussa Sissoko and Harry Winks step up to the plate in recent weeks with the latter’s good form earning him an England recall. Sissoko’s timely return to form has come as a surprise to Spurs fans who have felt they have not seen the best of the French midfielder after his impressive showing in the 2016 European Championships. In recent weeks however, the former Newcastle player has upped his performances and looked more like the rampaging force that drew admirers from all over Europe a few seasons ago.

 

Midfield

Chelsea meanwhile, have been emboldened by the arrival of Jorginho from Napoli and Mateo Kovacic on loan from Real Madrid, both have settled into life in the Premier League in fine style with a string of starring displays. They have been ably assisted by a resurgent Ross Barkley who has managed to put his injury nightmare of last season behind him and looks a stronger, fitter player under Sarri’s tutelage. The blues ooze creativity and technical nous when they are permitted to play making Tottenham’s selections in the engine room vital to their chances, the player at the base of the midfield is key in this regard giving Mauricio Pochettino a headache deciding whether to go with an out of sorts Eric Dier or gamble on the likes of Sissoko who is unfamiliar in the role or Victor Wanyama is only returning from injury.

 

Ross Barkley and Dele Alli have been caught in a storm this week as they were filmed arguing with hotel staff after England’s 2-1 win over Croatia at Wembley.

'Would this self-appointed officer of morality be filming them if they weren't England players?'

'This is unfair on Alli & Barkley'

😡 Jim White is FUMING after someone filmed Dele Alli & Ross Barkley in a London hotel at 5am on Monday.

How do you feel about the video? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/oTKxdDnUTk

— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) November 21, 2018

 

Harry Kane vs Edin Hazard – the Stats

How to keep Harry Kane quiet?

As always, the home team will look to their talisman Harry Kane to provide the firepower in attack, while he hasn’t been quite as prolific in recent seasons; the England captain has still helped himself to six goals in the league even though he finds himself in a deeper role allowing the likes of Lucas Moura to stretch opposing defences. Erik Lamela has benefited from a full pre-season and his sharpness has been reflected by his four goal haul in the league, the return of Dele Alli will also improve Tottenham’s prospects with the former PFA young player of the year showing flashes of his best in their recent win over Crystal Palace. Tottenham’s strength in attack is their ability to break at pace and they have numerous options especially in wide areas; how Chelsea deal with this will be a key area. David Luiz has been in resurgent form on his return to the side this year but the Brazilian is not as mobile as he used to be and how Maurizio Sarri deploys the likes of Rudiger and Azpilicueta in response to the threat will be interesting to watch.

 

Hazard to shine again for Chelsea?

At the other end, Chelsea have their own iconic front man in the form of Eden Hazard who has been grabbing the headlines once again for the pensioners, the Belgian’s impressive form has once again drawn the admiring glances of Real Madrid but he insists he is staying at Stamford Bridge for the time being. Alvaro Morata has helped himself to 5 goals in the league but his form has been somewhat patchy of late as highlighted by a glaring miss on international duty with Spain last weekend. Olivier Giroud has yet to open his account in the Premier League this year so Chelsea may look to the likes of Willian and Pedro to assist Hazard on the goal front. Tottenham have been forced to make changes at the back in recent weeks due to injuries to Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez, youngster Juan Foyth has stepped into the breach and it has been an eventful few weeks for the Argentinean to say the least, a nightmare debut at Wolves saw him give away 2 penalties but he followed this with man-of-the-match displays against Crystal Palace and Mexico on his international debut. How he deals with the hostile atmosphere at Wembley will be another key area on Saturday.

 

View from the dugout

Mauricio Pochettino has coped admirably with a plethora of problems at the start of this season: a lack of summer signings, a stunted pre-season due to the World Cup, injuries to key players and of course, the ongoing saga of the club’s move back to their White Hart Lane home. He has managed to cut his cloth and the team’s tally of 27 points after 12 games marks their best ever start to a Premier League campaign, however, doubts remain as their longevity in the league. Tottenham’s displays in Europe this season have been a pale shadow of the thrilling wins against the likes of Real and Borussia Dortmund last year, their chances of qualifying from their Champions League group are hanging by a thread and will require all of Pochettino’s expertise. Their league form too has been inconsistent with little evidence of the swashbuckling performances of the last few years; the team do seem to be able to “win ugly” however, with the recent hard-fought victory at Palace being a case in point.

Sarri has brought a new brand of football to Stamford Bridge this season.

Chelsea eye-catching displays have impressed as Sarri’s brand of football has been adopted enthusiastically by his new charges, with goals a-plenty at both home and on the road. However, critics will point out that in their two games against so-called “big six” clubs, the best the blues could muster were draws against both Man United and Liverpool.

It’s also worth noting that they fired blanks against well organised West Ham and Everton teams who both employed defensive set ups. All this has meant that should they fall to their first league defeat of the season on Saturday, the unthinkable will happen and Spurs will leapfrog their bitter rivals.

 

Tottenham vs Chelsea Prediction – The verdict

Saturday evening’s game promises to be an intriguing spectacle as the contrasting styles of two top-rated foreign coaches take centre stage, Maurizio Sarri’s brand of “total football” taking on Pochettino’s more patient high press. The fixture promises goals given the fact that Tottenham have yet to record a 0-0 this season and Chelsea will be anxious to cement their status as the capital’s top dogs. I’m going for an entertaining 2-2 draw with messes Kane and Hazard both to feature heavily.

[inline_advert ad=”1″]

Open a new account with our number 1 rated bookamker bet365 and get up to £100 in bonus credits to spend betting on this weekend’s Premier League football.

[do_widget id=rpwe_widget-3]

Relevant news