Premier League: Spurs and Chelsea Battle for London Pride

Premier League: Spurs and Chelsea Battle for London Pride

Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea

This week’s round of Premier League fixtures finishes up with an intriguing clash on Thursday night when two London giants meet with work to do to appease their fans.

Premier League: Spurs vs Chelsea brings together two teams in a state of flux. They sit sixth and seventh in the league table, locked on 33 points (Spurs have a game in hand), after starts to the campaign which had their supporters dreaming of Champions League qualification or better. But changes at both clubs, a new head coach for Chelsea and an injury to Spurs’ best player, have dominated the news over the past week, and both need to overcome disruption and get back in the hunt for a top-four finish.

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho faces the club he led to back-to-back league titles in his first stint as head coach at Stamford Bridge, while his opposite number Thomas Tuchel is about to take charge of his third match in the English league.

Talking Points

Spurs must find a way without Kane

Tottenham were spoken about as a potential league winner after they made a blistering start to the campaign, with the signing of old favourite Gareth Bale adding excitement in North London. Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son formed the most lethal partnership in Europe and they have reached 12 goals each. But the momentum gained has been lost in recent weeks.

An away trip to Brighton at the weekend should have been a game for Spurs to win, but the South coast strugglers shocked Mourinho’s team with a 1-0 victory, and that came quickly on the back of a humbling at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the hands of a resurgent Liverpool. But worse news for Mourinho was that Harry Kane injured his ankle against the Reds and Spurs were toothless when they faced the Seagulls three days later.

Kane shouldn’t be out for too long but, even if his absence is just a couple of games, Mourinho needs to find a way to win without him. Gareth Bale made a start against Brighton but was ineffective while Son looks lost without his mate.

The Spurs skipper has been out injured all too often and Mourinho can’t count on his fitness to hold his side up. Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura could both stake a claim with Dele Alli out of favour.

Can Tuchel get a tune out of Chelsea’s stars?

Former Blues’ head coach Frank Lampard fell on his sword having watched his expensively assembled team struggle to gel, particularly Bundesliga recruits Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, who started brightly but seem to have lost confidence.

Could Tuchel be the answer for Chelsea? Well the Blues certainly looked the part when they swept Burnley aside last Sunday, and the new boss has gained top-flight experience with Borussia Dortmund as well as handling the big egos at Paris Saint-Germain. He has a richly talented young squad at his disposal. Winger Hakim Ziyech also arrived in the summer and he has shown plenty of potential while, of the existing crop at the Bridge, Christian Pulisic should be able to recover his form of his debut season. Tammy Abraham is top-scoring with six goals and Ben Chilwell has made four assists.

Tuchel can call on the experience of Olivier Giroud, and if he can get the best out of young midfield star Mason Mount he will be halfway there.

The Spurs vs Chelsea betting odds give the Blues a clear edge, at odds of 2.18 to win, and seven points from three games would represent a very good start for the new man.

History

Chelsea have dominated the head to heads between these two teams, since the start of the Premier League, winning 34 of 64 meetings while Spurs have won just ten and there have been 20 draws.

Last season the Blues did the double over their London rivals, with a 2-1 win at home and 2-0 away. Spurs have had more success this season though, playing out a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge in November and, back in September, Mourinho sent his old club packing in the EFL cup. At that stage of the season Werner was in more confident form and he scored, before Erik Lamela grabbed a late equaliser for the Whites.

Mount missed the decisive spot-kick as Spurs won 5-4 on penalties.

Form over the past five league games is identical, with each side registering two victories, two defeats and a draw. Seven points from five games is upper-mid table form, and while Spurs and Chelsea currently sit in sixth and seventh, Everton too are on 33 points and with two games in hand on Tuchel’s Blues.

Betting Tip

Chelsea Asian Handicap -0.25 @ 1.93

We’ll be back again on Thursday night (UK time) with all the Spurs vs Chelsea updates in a game which should have plenty of action.  

With Spurs at SBOTOP odds of 3.21 and the draw at 3.06 all three outcomes are well in play, but I’m backing both teams to continue their form of the last week and Chelsea to come out on top.

Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.

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