Tottenham vs. Chelsea
Venue: White Hart Lane
Kick off: 1pmTottenham Hotspur will be aiming to extend their unbeaten Premier League run to 13 games when they host champions Chelsea at White Hart Lane today.
With 10 points currently separating the two London rivals, Spurs can strike a blow to Chelsea’s hopes of securing a place in the top four this season after their disastrous start.
While other sides close to the top of the table struggled last weekend, Spurs delivered another impressive performance to thrash West Ham United 4-1 and extend the longest unbeaten run in the league.
It was further proof of how strong Mauricio Pochettino’s squad is this season as they closed the gap on the top four to move within four points of surprise leaders Leicester City, and Harry Kane was the leader again with a brace in the London derby.
After passing their latest test in the league, Kane then scored the only goal in the victory over Qarabag FK to secure a spot in the knockout stage of the Europa League to make it nine goals in his last six games.
A tough schedule has left Pochettino frustrated in recent days, as he lamented the fact that his side had to make the six-hour trip to Azerbaijan before facing Chelsea in a 12pm kickoff on Sunday afternoon.
Electing to play the likes of Kane, Christian Eriksen and Eric Dier may have allowed Spurs to secure their progress in Europe, but there is certainly a worry that their key players will still be feeling the effects of their midweek exploits when the game gets underway.
It appears that the green shoots of recovery are finally emerging for Chelsea as Jose Mourinho’s side look to recover from a turbulent few months.
Three successive league defeats had raised further questions about whether Roman Abramovich would make the decision to part company with Mourinho, whose deteriorating relationship with the media and comments about underperforming players have piled the pressure on the club since this poor run started.
One of the stars of last season was responsible for relieving some of that pressure last weekend as Diego Costa struck the winner in a 1-0 victory over Norwich City, before a comfortable 4-0 win from their trip to Maccabi Tel Aviv boosted the squad’s confidence in midweek.
Chelsea remain well short of the form which guided them to the title, but with so much of the season remaining, Mourinho will be hopeful that the battling win against Norwich is at least a sign of his side improving in their bid to climb up the table.Spurs possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Dembele; Son, Eriksen, Lamela; Kane
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Begovic; Ivanovic, Zouma, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Fabregas, Matic; Willian, Hazrd, Pedro, Costa
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