HomeTeams - PLChelseaTottenham vs Chelsea Preview | Team News, Stats & Key Men

Tottenham vs Chelsea Preview | Team News, Stats & Key Men

It is another meeting of two traditional top-six clubs as Tottenham host Chelsea. This fixture is one of the biggest London derbies of the season and there will be hope on both sides that they can come out on top. Tottenham were poor last weekend against Crystal Palace. They will need to show a major improvement on Sunday if they are to have any chance of beating the current European championships. Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel will admit that his side hasn’t been as impressive in the last week. Despite beating Aston Villa and Zenit, the Blues didn’t have total control of proceedings and the German coach will expect a better showing against Spurs.

Nuno Espirito Santo won manager of the month in August, which underlines how impressive Tottenham were at the beginning of the season. Three successive clean sheets helped the club to a perfect record prior to the international break. However, they were disappointing against Crystal Palace and the 3-0 scoreline didn’t flatter the Eagles. Spurs were poor across the pitch and barely threatened. The red card to Japhet Tanganga didn’t help, but it can’t be hidden behind as the sole reason for defeat.

Chelsea have been emerged as the favourite to win the league title for many this season. Their performances since the appointment of Tuchel, especially in terms of their defensive reliability, makes them a serious contender to dethrone Manchester City. It is important that they perform in big matches and that has been the general trend since the appointment of the current coaching staff. Romelu Lukaku has added a reliable goal threat to the team and it looks to be the final piece in the jigsaw. His quality over the last week has helped Chelsea win matches when they haven’t been playing well. That was missing in West London last season. He is already proving to be great value.

Interesting stats

  • Last weekend, Tottenham only managed to have two attempts on goal throughout the whole match against Crystal Palace.
  • Chelsea have managed to win their last five London derbies away from home. They have never won six in a row in their history.

Key men

Kane

It has been a slow start to the season for Harry Kane. He has been the subject of a lot of speculation over the summer, but he has had to accept that his short term future will be in North London. It is now important that the England captain recaptures his best form and does his talking on the pitch. He has yet to open his account in the Premier League in 2021/22. However, he relishes the big occasion and he has had good moments against Chelsea. Kane has scored six goals against the Blues and he will be hoping to add to that this weekend. The difficulty will be finding a way past the current Chelsea defence, as they have an excellent record under Thomas Tuchel. The Blues have conceded just one goal this season and that came from the penalty spot. They have yet to concede from open play and their defensive quality has been clear since Tuchel arrived at the club. Despite Chelsea’s excellent record, Kane is one of the best strikers in the world. He now has a enough football under his belt this season that he should be reaching his peak fitness. The 28-year-old will be confident that he can have a big impact on Sunday.

Lukaku

After re-signing for Chelsea, it was expected that Romelu Lukaku would be a great signing and guarantee goals in attack. That has certainly been the case in the opening few weeks of the season, as he now has four goals in all competitions. There have been different goals, showing the number of ways in which he can carry a threat. His first goal against Villa showed impressive composure in the penalty box, while his second was a clinical finish. Tottenham struggled against the movement of Odsonne Edouard in the closing stages of the match against Crystal Palace. That should give confidence to Lukaku that he can have a lot of joy on Sunday. Despite three clean sheets in four matches, there are still question marks about Tottenham’s defence. This will be a major test for them and the smart money will be on Lukaku to come out on top. He thrives in the big matches, as he showed on his debut against Arsenal. This feels like a match for him to show his quality and propel his team to a crucial three points.

Team news

Japhet Tanganga will be serving his one-game suspension this weekend. Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso and Davinson Sanchez could be back involved after their quarantine. Meanwhile, Son Heung-min and Eric Dier could be available following knocks.

N’Golo Kante could be back available for the visitors. Christian Pulisic is still a few days away from a return to action. Mason Mount will be pushing for a Premier League recall after being rested last weekend.

Verdict

At the moment, it is clear that Chelsea are ahead of Tottenham across the pitch. They have a more reliable defence and a better functioning attack. However, Spurs have had a good record against other big-six teams in recent seasons. They have beaten Manchester City at home already this season and they may try to follow a similar blueprint to win this weekend. The difference is that Chelsea are a more versatile team and have different ways to hurt opposition teams. Lukaku could be the match-winner on Sunday.

Tottenham 0-2 Chelsea

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