Date: Thursday 4th
February 2021
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Four points
from his first two games in charge at Chelsea but tonight will be Tuchel’s
toughest test so far.
Tottenham
might not be in their best form, but teams haven’t needed to be to take points
off us this season. It’s also a Mourinho side and we know he’ll make it as mind
numbingly frustrating as he can for us, there’s no way he’ll want his first
meeting with the latest Chelsea manager to be one he’ll remember for the wrong
reasons.
We haven’t
been in the greatest form ourselves either and certainly no better than tonight’s
opponents, our positions in the table are evidence of that, and Spurs still
have a game in hand. We should have beaten Wolves but weren’t clinical enough
and whilst we were the better side in the win against Burnley, I’m not convinced
we’d get away with the same personnel tonight although to be honest, we’d probably
have more chance of picking the winning lottery numbers than Tuchel’s starting
XI.
MANAGER’S VIEWS
Going into today’s
game, Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho, says “Chelsea is Chelsea. They changed the coach, but they did not change
the players. There are lots of very good players, lots of potential in that
squad. They had a good coach with Frank, who was doing a good job with them,
they have a good coach now with Tuchel. He
was coming from a league that you cannot compare with the Premier League, but
he is used to working with players of high calibre, used to dressing rooms with
important players. He will fit well in a club like Chelsea.”
Thomas
Tuchel, meanwhile, says “It’s Tottenham against Chelsea, not me against
Jose. I am very happy to compete with a strong team against his side, with a
squad with our quality, mentality and the atmosphere we’re in right now.
I think it’s very clear what he stands for. He
builds competitive and strong teams. He has built a Tottenham squad with
characters like Sissoko, Hojbjerg that support the defence. They have great players upfront: Harry, Son,
Bergwijn, Bale. I have no doubts he is one of the best managers in the world
and has created a squad at Tottenham that is always competitive, very strong.
That is the challenge. The challenge for us is to beat them. We are very
excited to have these challenges.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Tottenham,
Sergio Reguilon (muscular), Giovani Lo Celso (hamstring), Dele Alli
(tendon) and Harry Kane (ankle) all allegedly remain out but Tanguy Ndombele
should be available.
For Chelsea,
Kurt Zouma and Kai Havertz are injury doubts and will be assessed.
TEAMS
TOTTENHAM (Possible line-up): Lloris; Alderweireld, Dier, Rodon; Doherty, Hojbjerg, Sissoko, Davies;
Bergwijn, Vinicius, Son
CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Mendy; Azpilicueta, Silva, Rudiger; Hudson-Odoi, Kovacic, Jorginho, Chilwell;
Pulisic, Mount, Werner;
LAST SEASON
Tottenham 0-2 Chelsea
(22nd December 2019)
CURRENT FORM (ALL)
TOTTENHAM: DWDWLL
CHELSEA: DLWLDW
OTHER STUFF
- Chelsea are unbeaten in the past four Premier
League meetings.
- Tottenham could lose three consecutive top-flight
fixtures for the first time since November 2012.
- Chelsea are vying to record consecutive Premier
League victories for just the second time this season
- Tottenham are the only side yet to lose a London
derby in the Premier League this season.
- Chelsea have lost four of their past five away
league games
- Chelsea have conceded 50 Premier League away goals
since the start of last season.
PREDICTION
BBC Sport: Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea
Sky Sports: Tottenham 0-2 Chelsea
Sportsmole: Tottenham 0-1 Chelsea
