Team
news, stats and prediction ahead of Chelsea vs Tottenham in the Premier
League on Super Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm.
Team news
Andreas Christensen will miss Chelsea's Premier League clash with Tottenham
at Stamford Bridge due to continued Covid-19 isolation.
Trevoh Chalobah is closing in on a return after a thigh problem but Sunday's
encounter will come too soon.
Reece James is also on the comeback trail after a hamstring strain but is
still some way off a playing return.
Tottenham have Eric Dier available after he missed five games through
injury.
Antonio Conte said a couple of players picked up injuries in the midweek win
at Leicester, one of whom is Emerson Royal.
Heung-Min Son (muscle) is still out, but Cristian Romero could return for
the first time since November.
Jones Knows prediction
Thomas Tuchel has been a fantastic addition to the Premier League: engaging,
a deep-thinker and most importantly a master of organising a team. However,
his deflection technique of blaming Chelsea's current malaise in attacking
areas on fatigue is getting a little tiresome. I've not enjoyed watching
Chelsea's attacking process for two months now and if you read between the
lines on Tuchel's recent comments, he would agree.
In their last 11 Premier League games, Chelsea have averaged just 1.5
expected goals per 90 minutes - a relatively strong figure but not for a
team that is supposed to be challenging Manchester City and Liverpool, who
are both averaging north of 2.1 per 90 minutes. Chances created from open
play are also trending badly downwards for Chelsea - in those 11 matches,
Chelsea have had just 8.4 shots from open play per 90 minutes, which is the
11th-best of all the teams in the Premier League. Spurs sit joint-top of
that particular metric with Manchester City (13.4).
It's that lack of fluidity in forward areas that makes Tuchel's side very
vulnerable at 8/13 with Sky Bet. Chelsea have won just four of their last 13
Premier League games, dropping 20 points in that time. And, against a
flowing attacking opponent like Tottenham, who are averaging 2.5 expected
goals per 90 minutes over their last seven fixtures and were dangerous from
all angles in their amazing 3-2 success at Leicester on Wednesday, Chelsea
simply have to be taken on at the prices.
Many of you will be screaming at me right now to point out that Chelsea have
lost just one of the last 31 league meetings at home with Spurs, winning 20,
and won rather comfortably 3-0 on aggregate in the two-legged Carabao Cup
semi-final. Yet Spurs shot themselves in the foot in the cup tie, making
basic errors to help Chelsea on their way and most importantly, we're able
to get 9/2 on an away win here. That's a price which is just begging to be
snapped up for a team carrying such a threat going forward and led by,
arguably, the best striker in world football. With Chelsea's defence still
performing amongst the best in the Premier League and Spurs very unlikely to
run away with the game, I'm happy to be greedy and up the price by backing
Antonio Conte's men to win by one goal at 7/1.
SCORE PREDICTION: 1-2
Opta stats
Chelsea have won five of their last six league games against Spurs (D1),
keeping five clean sheets in the process.
Tottenham have won just one of their last 31 away league games against
Chelsea (D10 L20), winning 3-1 in April 2018 with current boss Antonio Conte
in charge of the Blues that day.
Tottenham have lost 13 of their 17 away games in all competitions against
reigning European champions (W2 D2), with those victories coming at
Nottingham Forest in November 1980 (3-0) and Liverpool in March 1985 (1-0).
Chelsea have already won three games against Tottenham in all competitions
this season, including twice this month in the EFL Cup semi-final. The last
Premier League team to win four games against an opponent in a single
campaign were Manchester City against West Ham in 2013-14, while the last to
win three games in the same month against an opponent were Aston Villa
against Blackburn in January 2010.
Tottenham have failed to score in each of their last five meetings with
Chelsea in all competitions, with their goalless run against the Blues
currently standing at 457 minutes since Erik Lamela's strike in September
2020. They've never gone six games without a goal against an opponent in
their history.
Chelsea have earned 498 points from their 271 Premier League London derby
matches, and victory here would see them become the first side to reach 500
points in the history of the competition.
Tottenham have won their last two Premier League London derbies, having lost
five in a row before this. They last had a longer winning run in such games
between February and November 2018 (7).
Chelsea have drawn each of their last three Premier League home games -
they've not gone four without a win at Stamford Bridge in the competition
since a run of five under Guus Hiddink between March and May 2016.
No manager to have previously taken charge of Chelsea in the Premier League
has won against the Blues at Stamford Bridge in the competition (D7 L13).
Spurs boss Antonio Conte will be the eighth different manager to try, with
each of the last three losing on their first attempt (Mourinho, Benítez,
Ancelotti).
Tottenham striker Harry Kane has scored 39 goals in 65 Premier League London
derby matches, second only to Thierry Henry (43) in the history of the
competition. However, he's netted just once in his last seven such league
games, doing so against Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.
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