Chelsea make the journey across London on Sunday as they lock horns with rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
The Blues scored four on their last trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Nicolas Jackson's hat-trick downing nine-man Spurs. That was their fourth victory in their last five away visits in this fixture and Enzo Maresca's side favourites to clinch another triumph on Sunday afternoon.
Chelsea enter the weekend's duel in strong form, winning all four of their outings since the November international break. Premier League victories over Leicester City, Aston Villa and Southampton have seen the Blues close the gap on league leaders Liverpool to seven points. With the Merseyside derby postponed this weekend, they can apply pressure on the Reds.
Tottenham showed their quality in a thrashing of Manchester City several weeks back but have since endured a characteristic rough patch. Draws with Roma and Fulham on home soil were followed by a hugely underwhelming defeat at Bournemouth in midweek. Ange Postecoglou is starting to face backlash from the club's supporters after another disappointing run.
Here is 90min's guide to Sunday's London derby.
Tottenham vs Chelsea H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
Tottenham Chelsea
Bournemouth 1-0 Tottenham - 05/12/24 Southampton 1-5 Chelsea - 04/12/24
Tottenham 1-1 Fulham - 01/12/24 Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa - 01/12/24
Tottenham 2-2 Roma - 28/11/24 Heidenheim 0-2 Chelsea - 28/11/24
Man City 0-4 Tottenham - 23/11/24 Leicester 1-2 Chelsea - 23/11/24
Tottenham 1-2 Ipswich - 10/11/24 Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal - 10/11/24
Country TV channel/live stream
United Kingdom Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Ultra HD, Sky GO, Sky GO Extra, NOW TV
United States fuboTV, nbcsports.com, NBC Sports App, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, USA Network, Telemundo
Canada fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network Canada
Ben Davies
Ben Davies was injured at Bournemouth / Harry Murphy - Danehouse/GettyImages
Tottenham were dealt another defensive injury blow on Thursday evening as Ben Davies was withdrawn in the second half clutching the back of his leg. The Welsh defender, who had been filling in for the injured Micky van de Ven, will be unavailable this weekend.
In better news, there is a chance that Cristian Romero returns to the lineup at the weekend. Postecoglou has confirmed that the Argentinian defender is back in team training and could be involved against Chelsea in some capacity, with Davies' injury perhaps fast-tracking his comeback.
Guglielmo Vicario is still missing in goal and will be replaced by veteran Fraser Forster, while Rodrigo Bentancur continues to serve his seven-match domestic suspension. Wilson Odobert, Richarlison and Mikey Moore are out of action as well.
Tottenham predicted lineup vs Chelsea (4-3-3): Forster; Porro, Romero, Dragusin, Udogie; Kulusevski, Bissouma, Sarr; Johnson, Solanke, Son.
Wesley Fofana - Soccer Player
Wesley Fofana is missing for Chelsea / Visionhaus/GettyImages
Chelsea have a comparatively clean bill of health heading into Sunday's derby, although three players are currently missing with hamstring issues. Youngster Omari Kellyman has been joined in the treatment room by defensive duo Reece James and Wesley Fofana in recent weeks.
Mykhailo Mudryk will be unavailable on Sunday through illness but the rest of Chelsea's deep squad is set to feature. With games coming thick and fast for the Blues, Maresca may rotate again at Spurs.
Nicolas Jackson was given the night off during the 5-1 win over Southampton and while his deputy Christopher Nkunku impressed, the Senegalese should return to the starting lineup following his incredible start to the campaign.
Elsewhere, Robert Sanchez should come back into the XI after Maresca declared that he was the number one during his pre-match press conference and Levi Colwill will also re-enter the back four.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson.
Tottenham often save their best performances for the big occasion but injuries and a growing apathy in north London makes Chelsea firm favourites this weekend. The Blues are relentless scorers under Maresca and could punish a defence light on personnel.
Spurs will always boast their own attacking threat and are also likely to unnerve a Chelsea defence that often take big risks. However, confidence is not high for Spurs after three disappointing results and their London rivals are primed to take advantage.
Prediction: Tottenham 1-3 Chelsea
READ THE LATEST PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS, RUMOURS & GOSSIP
Related Topics