Tottenham Hotspur hosts Chelsea FC tonight at Wembley Stadium for the second time in the 2018-19 season. Spurs are hoping to repeat the kind of performance they put in when they comfortably dispatched Chelsea 3-1 at the national stadium in a November Premier League fixture.
Spurs should indeed be fired up for this one, as they are now within striking distance of claiming their first trophy in over a decade. They also haven’t taken three in a row over their bitter London rivals since 1961-1963, when they won five in a row. Tottenham enter this one oozing confidence after having just routed Tranmere in the FA Cup third round; in a match that now seems to be remembered more for Mauricio Pochettino’s controversial very late insertion of Harry Kane into the game.
Let’s take a look at the potential starting lineups for both sides.
The Bank Tottenham Hotspur FC Starting XI Prediction 4-3-3
Attack: Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen
Midfield: Harry Winks, Moussa Sissoko, Erik Lamela
Defense: Danny Rose, Davinson Sanchez, Toby Alderweireld, Kieran Trippier
Goalkeeper: Paulo Gazzaniga
The Bank Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction 4-3-3
Forwards: Eden Hazard, Alvaro Morata, Willian
Midfielders: Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante
Defenders: Marcos Alonso, David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta
Goalkeeper: Kepa Arrizabalaga
Chelsea FC at Tottenham Hotspur League Cup Semifinal Leg 1 FYIs
Kick-off: 8pm (BST), 3pm (EST) Tuesday January 8, Wembley Stadium
Injury Report for both teams: go to this link
Odds via Bet 365: Chelsea 9/4, Draw 13/5, Tottenham 5/4
League Cup Series History: Chelsea wins- 4, draws- 2, Tottenham wins- 2
Prediction: Tottenham 2, Chelsea 1
As always, feel free to post your own final score predictions as well as your Tottenham and/or Chelsea starting XI predictions.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.