GW 13: Tottenham vs. Chelsea

The big match this week is undoubtedly Tottenham against Chelsea. This heavyweight clash between 3rd and 4th place is a huge match for both teams especially with Tottenham only 1 point behind Chelsea after their recent win over Palace. Although Chelsea are still unbeaten after 12 matches, they have suffered 4 ties so far which has allowed Tottenham to close the gap and move in on this excellent Chelsea side. Recently, this has been an incredible clash, and in the last 6 Premier League meetings between the sides Chelsea have won 2, Tottenham have won 2 and they’ve drawn on 2 occasions. Surprisingly, last season Chelsea won their away game against Spurs and lost the home match which shows that at least last year, the venue didn’t affect the result of the match.

Tottenham have now won their last 2 Premier League games after they lost 1-0 to Man City a couple of weeks ago, and have now won 6 of their last 7 games a record that runs all the way back to their loss against Liverpool in mid-September. In that 7 game period they only conceded 4 goals, 2 of those coming from penalties, which shows that their defensive record is very solid lately. The problem for them has been goals, only scoring 1 each against teams Cardiff, Crystal Palace and West Ham. This is largely due to the drop in form of striker Harry Kane, who has only scored once in his last 5 games, which is really affecting the clubs performance in attacking areas.

In this game they’ll definitely need someone to step up and provide an attacking outlet against a Chelsea team who have only conceded 8 goals from the first 12 matches. Lucas Moura could be this player as he’s looked like a very positive player for Spurs this season and already has 4 goals, only 2 less than Harry Kane. The big problem with Moura is that he has missed 6 big chances already this season which shows that he isn’t a natural finisher. He’ll need to improve this against Chelsea because he most likely won’t get as many chances as usual as Chelsea have only conceded 20 shots and 4 on target in their last 3 games. Juan Foyth is another player who could possibly make an impact. The young Argentinian centre-back has now played the last 2 games with Vertonghen and Sanchez both struggling through injury. During this period he has played quite well with 7 tackles and interceptions as well as a goal and a clean-sheet. He is clearly very inexperienced but looks like he could be a decent prospect for the future.

Now moving on to Chelsea who recently tied against Everton last week. As mentioned before this means Chelsea are now only 1 point ahead of their opponents Tottenham, making this a must win match. Chelsea currently rank as the highest passing side in the league but they also have played the most backwards passes out of any Premier League side this season, which might somewhat be to blame for them drawing 0-0  with Everton. In this match they did honestly deserve a win with Chelsea hitting the post twice, having 68% possession, taking 9 more shots and 3 more on target. As well as that expected goals had this game at 1.19 to 0.20 in Chelsea’s favour which really highlights how Chelsea were robbed a win in this one. Chelsea are now back in third place 2 points behind Liverpool and 4 behind City going into the international break, and will need these 3 points to stay in contention for the title.

Hazard will still be the most important player for Chelsea even though he’s dropped off in form recently after his back injury. In Chelsea’s last 4 games he’s played in 3 of them and hasn’t managed a goal, however, he still has an incredible goal contribution rate getting a goal or an assist every 71 minutes in the Premier League. The fact that he has now fully recovered from injury should mean that he’ll be able to leave a mark on the game. Antonio Rudiger will be another crucial Chelsea player in this game. He’s been rock solid at the back for Chelsea this season and has played every Premier League match for them, clearly a favorite under Maurizio Sarri. He has made 17 tackles and interceptions this season which is a decent amount for a player playing in a very possession based side. Rudiger’s main point of interest is is passing as he’s made 986 passes this which is 3rd in the league, as well as making 56 accurate long balls which is more than 4.5 a game. Although Tottenham haven’t been incredibly prolific in attack this season they have some talented attacking players and Chelsea will need Rudiger to help shut down their attacks.

Now we’ll look at the injury problems where Spurs aren’t looking good for the upcoming match. Spurs currently are suffering injuries to Sanchez, Vertonghen, Trippier, Rose, Dembele and Lamela. Although not all of these injuries are major, having this many defensive players injured at the same time will really hurt their chances against a strong team like Chelsea. Vertonghen and Dembele are definitely not going to be back for this game and aren’t expected to be back until December 1st and January 13th respectively. Rose is also a serious doubt for this game with a groin injury and is expected back the day of the match. This means he could potentially play in this one. The injuries to Trippier, Sanchez and Lamela are all less serious and they might just be fake injuries so that the players can avoid the international break. This means that all 3 of them should be able to play. On the other hand, Chelsea are in the clear regarding injuries at the moment and have no players in their senior squad out.

Both teams are having good seasons and they’re both expected to make the top 4 come the end of the season. This means that it should be an interesting and a very crucial clash. The fact that Tottenham have so many more injury problems than Chelsea really gives Chelsea an advantage in this one. In most matches the venue comes into play but for this one with, at Wembley, we expect neither team to gain too much of an advantage from the location of the match. Although it seems like an even match, I believe that with Chelsea’s brilliant form under Sarri this season they’ll come out of it 2-1 winners in the most serious london derby thus far.