Tottenham welcome city rivals Chelsea to north London
Tottenham welcome city rivals Chelsea to north London. Photograph: Ian Stephen/Action Plus/Shutterstock
Chelsea also make two changes to the XI that started their last Premier League fixture, the 1-2 home reverse to Sunderland. Wesley Fofana and Malo Gusto replace Josh Acheampong and Marc Guiu, who are both benched. Both sides with slightly more defensive selections than last week, then.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Danso, van de Ven, Spence, Joao Palhinha, Sarr, Kudus, Bentancur, Bergvall, Muani.
Subs: Scarlett, Odobert, Johnson, Romero, Tel, Udogie, Richarlison, Simons, Kinsky.
Chelsea: Sanchez, James, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella, Gusto, Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Fernandez, Garnacho, Joao Pedro.
Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Hato, Acheampong, Guiu, Estevao, Lavia.
Referee: Jarred Gillett.
VAR: Craig Pawson.
There are two ways to look at this. Tottenham Hotspur are currently third in the Premier League, while Chelsea flounder in ninth. So that’s way number one, and it was good for Spurs.
Here’s the other way. Chelsea have won their last four Premier League fixtures against Spurs. They’ve won five of their six Premier League matches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They’ve scored four times on each of their last two visits. They’ve only lost one of the last 13 Premier League meetings. They’re 37-8 up on wins in the Premier League era, leading by an aggregate score of 121-63. So that’s way number, er, two, and it’s fair to say the recent record between these two clubs is fairly lopsided.
Hold on, come to think of it, there’s a third way. Spurs have just lost at home to Aston Villa and won well at Everton, while Chelsea won well at Nottingham Forest before losing at home to Sunderland. So way number three suggests we simply don’t know what on earth to expect here tonight. Hey, unpredictability is the fun and lifeblood of football. Kick-off is at 5.30pm GMT. It’s on!