It is the battle between two giants of London, a battle between two teams vying for a top-four finish in one of the most competitive leagues in the world, and also a battle between two teams who have tasted defeat this week already.
In a pulsating Premier League contest, Chelsea will take on Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
While Chelsea went down to Manchester United in the Premier League in a Monday night fixture, Tottenham faced the wrath of German outfit RB Leipzig in the Champions League last night. Ironically, both teams were playing at home.
Come Saturday, both managers will be under pressure to impress their fan-bases with a win in the London derby. But more importantly, it is a clash which may change the dynamics of the race for a top-four finish if Tottenham are to win this one.
Today, we take a look at the top three things that Spurs must do if they want to beat Chelsea at the weekend.
#3 Exploiting the wings
With Heung-min Son injured, Jose Mourinho will most likely play Lucas Moura upfront position, which will leave Steven Bergwijn and Giovani Lo Celso on the wings.
Also, even though Chelsea right-back Reece James has been exceptional since being promoted to Chelsea’s senior squad this season, the English full-back usually operates high up the field which could leave the Blues a little vulnerable on the right wing against counter-attacks. This situational weakness, if exploited, can be very beneficial to Spurs.
#2 Winning the midfield battle by making the best of Kante’s absence
With N’Golo Kante out of the fixture due to his abductor injury, it takes a lot of firepower out of Chelsea’s midfield. Frank Lampard could have to play a combination of Jorginho-Mateo Kovacic-Mason Mount in midfield as the manager faces an injury crisis.
This midfield combination might be great on offensively but is really untested when it comes to their defensive capabilities. The reason for this being that two out of the three midfielders are quite attack-minded players.
Tottenham can use this to their advantage and can win the game in midfield, thanks to the strength of Eric Dier, who has been favoured by Mourinho, and Harry Winks, who is an extremely hardworking player.
#1 Hitting Chelsea in set-piece situations
The Blues have struggled to defend set-pieces and it is evident from the number of goals they have conceded from dead-ball situations this season.
Tottenham have a better average height in their squad than Chelsea and also have players who are extremely dangerous in set-piece situations. Spurs defenders will have to be instrumental if they want to hit the Blues through corners or free-kicks.
The math is simple – if Tottenham force corners or free-kicks on Saturday, sooner or later the Chelsea defence is going to succumb in aerial duals as they have during previous games, most recently against Manchester United when Harry Maguire scored from a Bruno Fernandes corner.
