Chelsea star Eden Hazard has labelled today’s London derby against Tottenham Hotspur a must win if they are to qualify for UEFA Champions League next season. The good news for Chelsea is that Spurs haven’t won at Stamford Bridge since 1990.
The bad news for the Blues is that the pressure is really on them, as they’re five points off the top four (Tottenham are the team directly in front of them), with just seven games left to play after this one. The reigning league champions are running out of chances.
“We know it’s a massive one if we want to reach our target of finishing in the top four. We’re ready to play a good game,” Hazard said in an interview with Chelsea FC’s official website.
“I think in the last two or three years especially it hasn’t been easy to win against them. Their manager, Mauricio Pochettino, is very good, Harry Kane has been on fire and they have a lot of top players like Moussa Dembele.”
Indeed, Spurs are certainly a club on the rise lately, and have been ever since Pochettino took over. Eden Hazard went on to say that in a massive derby like this, anything can happen.
“It’s a massive derby for the fans and a huge game for us. We are all focused. In France we say a derby is not like a normal game, it doesn’t matter how you play, you just need to win. When we play against Tottenham everybody thinks the same,” the Belgian continued.
“We know, for the fans, especially at Stamford Bridge, it’s very important because there has been a big rivalry between us in the last few years.”
Odds: Chelsea 7/5, Draw 23/10, Tottenham 9/4
Chelsea starting XI prediction: go to this link
Injury report for both teams: go to this link
Antonio Conte press conference video: go to this link
Mauricio Pochettino press conference video: go to this link
Tottenham Hotspur starting XI prediction: go to this link
Prediction: Chelsea 1, Tottenham 0
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Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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