The London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur will headline this weekend’s Premier League fixture list when they do battle at Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening.
Chelsea will be looking to maintain their perfect start to the new campaign after they secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Everton after Jorginho’s penalty proved the difference in their opening match at Goodison Park last weekend.
Spurs, meanwhile, are full of confidence coming into the match after they cruised to a comfortable 4-1 victory over Southampton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last Saturday as goals from Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier and Dejan Kulusevski as well as an own goal from Mohammed Salisu to hand Tottenham all three points.
The win saw the Blues move to eighth place on the league standings with three points from their opening game, while Spurs’ triumph over the Saints sees them climb to the top of the table with the same number of points as their next opponents.
“I mean it when I said we fight against the best teams and the best coaches, which does not make life easier and they set the bar so high last season, but we start again from scratch,” Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said.
“If you look at the transfer period of Tottenham with Antonio Conte, it’s maybe the strongest team they ever built. Manchester United will not give in, Arsenal will not give in, they’ve made two big signings already, so we are aware of the situation and try to do our best to be competitive.
Meanwhile, Spurs manager Antonio Conte said: “With Chelsea last season, I think I have seen a lot of difference in the level,” Conte, who took charge of Spurs in November.
“We played three games in 12 days (against Chelsea last season), we lost three games, we didn’t score and they showed in these three games that in the moment they were much better than us.
“This season we are starting with seven months of work and, for me, this is very important because I can go in another step to implement our football knowledge and try to be stronger.”
When the two sides met last season in the Premier League, Chelsea claimed the bragging rights after winning both the home and away legs, by first claiming a commanding 3-0 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before clinching a comfortable 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge in the return leg.
Thomas Tuchel will consider handing Marc Cucurella his first start over Ben Chilwell, Armando Broja will pushing Kai Havertz for a starting berth in attack, Kalidou Koulibaly is expected to start in defence despite withdrawing with cramp last weekend.
Antonio Conte is likey going to stick to the same squad that defeated Southampton with the exceptions of Oliver Skipp, who remains on the sideline with a heel injury but he’ll be boosted by the return of Richarlison after he served his suspension.
Although he has yet to open his account for Chelsea this campaign, three of Mason Mount’s last for Premier League goals for the Blues have come inside the opening m20 minutes of a match.
Meanwhile, Tottenham’s Dejan Kulusevski has four goal contributions, including three goals and one assists across his last two EPL appearances, two of those goals coming between the 60th and 65th minute, while also getting in on the goals in their opening match of the season against Southampton.
Chelsea Form This Season:
W
Tottenham Hotspur Form This Season:
W