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Tottenham Hotspur have won just one of their previous 31 away matches against Chelsea in the league. (D10 L20). Interestingly, their sole win in that span came in April of 2018 when current boss Antonio Conte was in the Blues dugout.
It’s a pattern that’s worth watching when these two London rivals clash on Sunday, in a match with massive top four implications. If these trends continue…..
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It’s a London derby with massive top four ramifications on Sunday, and it headlines the next round of Premier League fixtures. The Blues won a pair of League Cup matches versus Tottenham earlier this month, adding to their two-straight PL wins over their rivals who are just up the road.
Chelsea have won five of their last six against Spurs, keeping 5 clean sheets in the process. So you got to like their chances here. But they will be missing a few key players, so let’s take a look at who those individual footballers are.
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Tottenham head into this London derby against Chelsea riding a crest of good form. Since Tottenham gave Nuno Espirito Santo his marching orders after the 3-0 loss to Manchester United, Spurs have only lost twice on English soil. Ironically enough, both losses have come at the hands of this weekend’s opponent, Chelsea.
Spurs don’t have an outstanding record against the Blues at all. Their West London rivals have won five of their last six clashes, keeping five clean sheets en route.
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I can’t believe I am about to type this. Tottenham Hotspur travels to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in a game that might just see the North Londoners usurp the West Londoners as the best club in London at the moment.
Yes, the same Tottenham Hotspur that bungled their new head coach search in the summer. The same Tottenham who sacked the man they eventually hired after less than 20 games in the job. The same Tottenham that was humiliated by the lowest-ranked side in UEFA club competition this season.
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When Chelsea lost 1-0 at Manchester City over the weekend, there was plenty of blame to go around. Some of it fell on Romelu Lukaku directly, and when you’re the most expensive player in club history, it comes with the territory.
And of course, when you start trouble at your current club, with your current manager, you can get singled out, in a bad way, by your boss. And that’s exactly what Thomas Tuchel did on Saturday. Now the situation is supposedly rectified, so what does that mean moving forward, starting with a trip to Brighton?
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Chelsea fell at Manchester City on Saturday, 1-0, and in doing so they saw their Premier League title dreams dashed. Now they’re not even the side closest to Manchester City in the table, as Liverpool (even with a game in hand) have surpassed the Blues.
Now it’s time to shift the focus to the top four instead, with “the rest of the season” beginning with a trip to surprisingly solid Brighton & Hove Albion.
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Norwegian striker Erling Haaland is The Next Big Thing in football, so when he leaves Borussia Dortmund for his next club, it will be blockbuster news. According to the man himself, it seems like it’s going to happen this summer, and the preliminary negotiations will get started soon.
Haaland has been linked with absolutely all of the biggest clubs, in the entire world, including Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
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Right now, Romelu Lukaku is learning, the hard way, that if you want to dish it out, you better be able to take it. Big Rom infamously called out manager Thomas Tuchel’s tactics last month, and made it clear that we wished to return to Inter Milan.
He has since apologized, and his speaking out against his own current club to the media saw him fined. Today, following a 1-0 loss at Manchester City that effectively ended Chelsea’s title hopes, Tuchel singled out Lukaku as a player who should have done more.
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As the omicron variant of the covid-19 virus runs roughshod over the world, and the United Kingdom in particular, we have seen a ton of postponed Premier League fixtures. It’s resulted in a crazy imbalanced schedule, and it’s made for an uneven table.
Three teams, including the top two who will square off tomorrow in Manchester City and Chelsea, have played 21 matches. Five more have played exactly 20 while six have staged 19 and four sides have registered 18 fixtures. Only one club, Burnley, have competed in just 17. It’s going to be weird the rest of the season, scheduling wise, as the league looks to get things all square.
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Manchester City welcomes Chelsea to the Etihad Stadium this weekend. The Sky Blues will take on the Blues, hoping to win their twelfth straight Premier League fixture. Victory here would almost certainly guarantee the Citizen’s fourth Premier League title in five years.
A loss in this matchup would be terminal to Chelsea’s feint title chances. After being the pacesetters in the early stages of the competition, The Pensioners form has been middling. Believe it or not, their current Premier League form stinks!
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With both Ben Chilwell and Reece James out long term, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is short at wing-back right now. In this the year of the wing-back, it’s the wrong time to be in such a state, especially considering what’s up next- a visit to Manchester City.
This is simply do or die for the Blues, who are fresh off a midweek semifinal win in the Moose Cup over London rivals Tottenham.
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For all intents and purposes, the Premier League title race probably ended last weekend, when Chelsea and Liverpool, the only two sides with a chance of catching Manchester City this season, played to a draw. It leaves City, who went unblemished in the festive fixture period, 10 points up on the Blues and 11 clear of Liverpool (who do have a game in hand though).
City hosts Chelsea to kick off the next round of fixtures, and a win here would pretty much make them champions-elect. A draw would probably put Chelsea on very thin ice too.
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