Chelsea
head coach Maurizio Sarri is yet to decide whether to include goalkeeper
Kepa Arrizabalaga in his team for Wednesday's Premier League clash with
Tottenham.
Sarri says he will take the best decision for his team after Kepa was fined
one week's wages for his refusal to be substituted in Sunday's Carabao Cup
final with Manchester City, which the Blues lost on penalties, so Willy
Caballero could come in.
Sarri believes the performance at Wembley showed he has his players' backing
after a series of poor results, with the Kepa incident strengthening his
resolve.
"Did you see the match on Sunday? So, you have the answer," he said when
asked whether he has the support of his players.
Asked if he felt the support of the players was now greater, Sarri said:
"Yes."
Tottenham go into the game on the back of a shock 2-1 defeat at Burnley, six
points off leaders Liverpool and five behind Manchester City with 11 games
remaining.
Team news
Emerson Palmieri has been preferred to Marcos Alonso at left-back of late
and could continue, with Sarri likely to stick by his first-choice line-up
and resist changes.
Tottenham are still without Dele Alli and Eric Dier for the trip to Chelsea.
Alli is on the comeback trail from a hamstring injury while his England
team-mate Dier is laid low with tonsillitis.
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has no other concerns for the visit to
Stamford Bridge.
Opta stats
Chelsea have only lost one of their last 32 home games against Spurs in all
competitions (W20 D11). However, that defeat did come in this exact fixture
last season (1-3).
Tottenham have won three of their last four Premier League games against
Chelsea (L1), as many as they had in their previous 20 against them (W3 D9
L8).
Tottenham are looking to win three consecutive league games against Chelsea
for the first time since a run of five between March 1961 and September
1963.
Chelsea haven't lost both league games against Tottenham in a single
campaign since 1970-71.
Only Arsenal (16 in 8 games) have won more points in Premier League London
derbies this season than Tottenham (15 in 6 games).
Chelsea have failed to score in three of their last four Premier League
games. Their last three league games have produced a total of 15 goals (5
per game), with the Blues beating Huddersfield 5-0 and suffering 0-4 and 0-6
defeats against Bournemouth and Man City respectively.
Merson's prediction
Well, the pressure is off Tottenham now so they'll be like the Harlem
Globetrotters again. I don't know what it is, but there's something about
them, where they get into a position to make things happen, and it doesn't
happen!
This is not a fluke, this is quite worrying now if you're a Tottenham fan.
At half-time against Wolves in December, if you're a Spurs fan you're
thinking: 'We are right in this title race.' 1-0 at half-time and cruising.
They then get well beat.
People were telling me: 'They're tired, they're jaded,' but they were 3-0 up
against Cardiff in 26 minutes three days later. They then claw themselves
back into the title race, go to Burnley knowing a win puts real pressure on,
and they never look like winning it.
I'll go for a draw, but I wouldn't be surprised if Tottenham won it after
Chelsea's hard work on Sunday.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-2 (12/1 with Sky Bet)
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