Time: 9:00pm
Date: Wednesday 27th February
Stadium: Stamford Bridge
Just 72 hours after the drama of the League Cup final, Chelsea welcome Spurs to the Bridge, hoping that the match, our fourth test against them this season, will serve just as much of a turning point as our first meeting did.
Three months ago as the days slowly turned from autumn to winter, Chelsea made short trip to Never Done Lane Wembley. The Blues were inconsistent but unbeaten (12 in the league; 18 in all competitions). Since then, we’ve just been inconsistent. Including that 3-1 defeat, Chelsea have won just 7 of 14 in the league (14 of 25 in all competitions). And it’s getting worse: Chelsea have just 2 wins from 6 Premier League matches in 2019.
As in late November, Chelsea head into this match on the back of 0-0 draw. But this draw, despite the Kepa shenanigans, feels a lot better than that 0-0 draw versus Everton. And if there is one thing we learned this season, it’s that to a great extent, results are all about confidence and belief regardless of tactics.
Team News:
Chelsea
Other than general fitness concerns stemming from having had to play 120 intense minutes on Sunday, the only specific concern is Davide Zappacosta’s status though a) he’s unlikely to play and b) he’s surely over his stomach flu or whatever by now.
A bigger question surrounds Chelsea’s morale and mentality, especially after the remarkable scenes that played out between the head coach and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga Sunday night, and then the emotional letdown of the defeat itself in the penalty shootout. Kepa has been fined a week’s wages for his conduct (even if he was “right” in terms of the actual injury), but he may still be picked to play tonight (Sarri’s letting the team decide, apparently).
Whether it’s Kepa or Caba who’s the keepa, Chelsea and Sarri need this win like none other so far this season. The head coach may have earned a “stay of execution” after the weekend, but another loss to Spurs (or any other team at this point) could see him fall through the thin ice immediately.
Tottenham Hotspur
Despite the surprisingly loss to Burnley over the weekend — and the subsequent disciplinary action incoming for Mauricio “not that type of character” Pochettino after his confrontation with referee Mike Dean — it’s looking like Spurs will coast easily into a third place finish in the Premier League and may yet make a few waves in Europe after an excellent 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their Round of 16 Champions League match-up.
Harry Kane is back in action and back in the goals, but Dele Alli and Eric Dier will miss out. Dele has an annoying habit of scoring against Chelsea, but so do Kane and Son Heung-min, so ... yeah. Spurs have won the last two Premier League games against Chelsea by identical 3-1 scorelines.
Opta Stats
Chelsea have only lost one of their last 32 home games against Spurs in all competitions (W20 D11). However, that defeat did come in this exact fixture last season (1-3).
Tottenham have won three of their last four Premier League games against Chelsea (L1), as many as they had in their previous 20 against them (W3 D9 L8).
Tottenham are looking to win three consecutive league games against Chelsea for the first time since a run of five between March 1961 and September 1963.
Chelsea haven't lost both league games against Tottenham in a single campaign since 1970-71.
Only Arsenal (16 in 8 games) have won more points in Premier League London derbies this season than Tottenham (15 in 6 games).
Chelsea have failed to score in three of their last four Premier League games. Their last three league games have produced a total of 15 goals (5 per game), with the Blues beating Huddersfield 5-0 and suffering 0-4 and 0-6 defeats against Bournemouth and Man City respectively.
Goal Scorers:
Pedro (57' minutes), Kieran Trippier (84' minutes (OG)
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