Chelsea vs. Spurs, Spurs vs. Chelsea. It’s a fixture and a date that many circle on the calendar when the schedule is first announced and the magnitude of this specific occasion has only been increased with the two teams separated by just a single point inside the Premier League’s top four.
Chelsea may be one of three teams unbeaten in the Premier League, but Spurs actually have more wins than all but Manchester City and thus are keeping up the pressure as has been their recent habit. After the two-week international break, they come into this Saturday prime time matchup on the back of four wins in a row, although their home form at Never Done Lane Wembley has been rather spotty, with just three wins in six in all competitions — granted, the three losses had been to Liverpool, Barcelona, and Manchester City.
The question then might be, will the Chelsea that show up tomorrow be closer to Manchester City or Cardiff City?
Date / Time: Saturday, November 24, 2018, 17:30 GMT; 12:30 EST; 11pm IST
Venue: Wembley, London
Referee: Martin Atkinson — an appropriately big name referee for a big game; last time we saw Atkinson was in the 3-2 win over Arsenal earlier this season. This will be his 48th career Chelsea match.
Forecast: Rain.
On TV: BT Sport 1 (UK); NBC, Universo (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); elsewhere
Streaming online: BT Sport Live (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Hotstar (India)
Tottenham Hotspur team news: Jan Vertonghen is back from injury and could be in line for his first action in two months, especially as Spurs are dealing with multiple injuries in defense, including Davinson Sanchez, Danny Rose, and Kieran Trippier. Juan Foyth returned late from international duty with Argentina alongside Erik Lamela and thus neither are expected to play either. Mousa Dembele is also out.
This basically means that Spurs’ defense should be vulnerable, especially if Chelsea’s attack can click back into gear, but their goal threat will remain palpable as well. This fixture has produced plenty of fireworks in recent years (and not just in terms of football), and we could see plenty more of either of that on Saturday.
View from the enemy: Cartilage Free Captain
Chelsea team news: Chelsea were sweating the fitness of Mateo Kovačić, again, but Maurizio Sarri seemed confident that the Real Madrid loanee will be fit to play. All others are available for selection.
Chelsea were kept scoreless for just the second time all season before the break, in the disappointing 0-0 draw against Everton, and Sarri’s looking for the team to respond with stronger mentality and more clinical finishing. The new head coach remains unbeaten in competitive matches — 18 in a row now since the 2-0 defeat by Manchester City in the Community Shield — but Sarri-ball itself remains very much a work in progress.
Previously: This fixture last year produced one of the relatively few highlights of Antonio Conte’s second season, but in honor of Didier Drogba announcing his retirement this week, here’s one of the greatest goals he scored for Chelsea against Spurs at Wembley.