Team
news, stats and prediction ahead of Tottenham vs Chelsea in the Premier
League on Super Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm.
Team news
Tottenham hope to welcome back Giovani Lo Celso, Cristian Romero and
Davinson Sanchez for the visit of Chelsea.
All three have been in Croatia for the last 10 days in order to circumvent
hard quarantine rules following their decision to travel to South America
for World Cup qualifiers earlier this month.
Son Heung-min (calf) and Eric Dier (dead leg) are doubts, along with with
Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura, who both hobbled off in Thursday's Europa
Conference League draw at Rennes. Japhet Tanganga (suspended) and Ryan
Sessegnon (hamstring) are out.
N'Golo Kante will return for Chelsea after shaking off his latest injury
issue. The France midfielder is fit after ankle trouble, in a significant
boost to the Blues. Christian Pulisic remains sidelined with an ankle
complaint of his own, however.
Sky has partnered with Tottenham Hotspur to host the world's first net zero
carbon football game at an elite level when Spurs face Chelsea on September
19.
The initiative is supported by COP26 and the Premier League, and will be
branded #GameZero, with the ambition of being net zero carbon. This is
achieved when emissions are reduced as much as possible, with the remainder
offset through natural projects that remove emissions from the atmosphere.
Sky, Tottenham Hotspur and the UK Government want the game to raise
awareness of the threat of climate change and inspire football fans to make
simple changes that will help reduce their carbon footprint.
Jones Knows prediction
Why would you fix it if it is not broken? That is my theory regarding
Chelsea and the chances of them winning without conceding at 15/8 with Sky
Bet. The same price as we got last week when they did the business to nil
over Aston Villa.
Thomas Tuchel is a bit of a master at mastering the away day. Since he took
over, Chelsea have lost just one of their 15 away games in all competitions
- the only defeat being a 2-1 reverse at Aston Villa on the final day of
last season, where they could be excused for having an eye on the Champions
League final. Chelsea have also won four of the last five Premier League
meetings with Spurs, keeping a clean sheet in four of those clashes.
Tottenham's display at Palace did not come as too much of a shock to me.
Nuno's style is always going to make them a tough watch early on in games
against so-called inferior opposition. His plan to turn the game into a
20-minute one was working until the sending-off. They will win plenty of
games by one goal this season on the road. Not this one though. It is all
about Chelsea to grind this one out, showcasing their excellent defensive
prowess.
SCORE PREDICTION: 0-1
Opta stats
Tottenham have conceded more Premier League goals against Chelsea (103) than
they have versus any other opponent, while they've only lost more games in
the competition against Man Utd (36) than against the Blues (31).
Chelsea have won their last two Premier League away games against Tottenham,
as many as in their previous 13 visits (D5 L6). They last won three in a row
at Spurs between April 2004 and August 2005.
Tottenham have lost four of their last six Premier League London derby
matches (W2), as many as they had in their previous 18 such games combined.
Spurs have lost their last two such games, last losing three in a row in
August 2005 - the third game of which came at home to Chelsea.
Chelsea have won each of their last five away league London derbies -
they've never won six in a row on the road before in their league history.
Only twice before have Tottenham started a Premier League campaign with
three home wins out of three, doing so in 2000-01 and 2002-03. Spurs have
won eight of their last 10 league games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
(L2), keeping six clean sheets in the process.
Chelsea have kept a clean sheet in 61% of their Premier League games under
Thomas Tuchel (14/23) - it's the best clean sheet ratio any manager has at a
specific club in the competition's history (min. 10 games).
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