2 years ago
Chelsea's Andreas Christensen is out due to Covid-19 isolation; Tottenham's Eric Dier returns from injury; watch Chelsea vs Tottenham live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 4pm; kick-off 4.30pm; free highlights available shortly after full-time on Sky Sports website and app.
Team news, stats, and predictions for Chelsea vs. Tottenham in the Premier League on Super Sunday, which kicks off at 4.30 p.m.
News from the team
Andreas Christensen will miss Chelsea's Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge due to his continued isolation from Covid-19.
Trevoh Chalobah is nearing a return from a thigh injury, but Sunday's game will be too soon.
Reece James is also on the mend after a hamstring strain, but he is still a long way from returning to the field.
Eric Dier is back for Tottenham after missing five games due to injury.
Antonio Conte stated that two players were injured in the midweek win over Leicester, one of whom is Emerson Royal.
Heung-Min Son (muscle) remains out, but Cristian Romero could make his first appearance since November.
Thomas Tuchel has been an excellent addition to the Premier League: he is engaging, deep-thinking, and, most importantly, a master of team organization.
His deflection technique of blaming Chelsea's current malaise in attacking areas on fatigue, on the other hand, is becoming a little tiresome. For the past two months, I haven't enjoyed watching Chelsea's attacking process, and if you read between the lines of Tuchel's recent comments, he would agree.
Chelsea has averaged 1.5 expected goals per 90 minutes in their last 11 Premier League games, which is a relatively high figure but not for a team that is expected to challenge Manchester City and Liverpool, both of which are averaging north of 2.1 per 90 minutes. Chances created from open play are also declining for Chelsea - in those 11 games, Chelsea has had just 8.4 shots from open play per 90 minutes, ranking 11th among all teams in the Premier League. Spurs and Manchester City are tied for first place in that metric (13.4).
Tuchel's side is very vulnerable at 8/13 with Sky Bet due to a lack of fluidity in the forward areas. Chelsea has only won four of their last 13 Premier League games, dropping 20 points in the process. And, against a flowing attacking opponent like Tottenham, who have averaged 2.5 expected goals per 90 minutes over their last seven games and were dangerous from all angles in their incredible 3-2 win over Leicester on Wednesday, Chelsea simply have to be taken on at the prices.
Many of you will be screaming at me right now to point out that Chelsea has only lost one of the last 31 league meetings with Spurs at home, winning the other 20, and won rather comfortably 3-0 on aggregate in the two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final.
However, Spurs shot themselves in the foot in the cup tie, making simple mistakes that allowed Chelsea to advance, and most importantly, we can get 9/2 on an away win here. That's a price that begs to be paid for a team that poses such a threat going forward and is led by, arguably, the best striker in the world. With Chelsea's defense still among the best in the Premier League and Spurs unlikely to run away with the game, I'm willing to be greedy and raise the stakes by backing Antonio Conte's men to win by one goal.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Kepa; Sarr, Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Kante, Kovacic, Alonso; Mount, Lukaku, Werner
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Sanchez, Dier, Davies; Emerson, Skipp, Winks, Hojbjerg, Reguilon; Kane, Lucas
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Chelsea wins: 76
Draws: 41
Tottenham wins: 55
SCORE PREDICTION: 1-2
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