- Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
- Date & Time: Monday, November 6 at 8:00 p.m
- Teams: Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea
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Pochettino returns to Spurs with Chelsea
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino returns to his former club for this London derby. Tottenham sit on top of the Premier League, after an excellent start to the season. Chelsea have shown signs of getting more from their talented, expensive, but hitherto underachieving squad under Pochettino, however, suffered a setback when they lost at home to West London rivals Brentford in the last round of fixtures.
Tottenham
With 26 points from the opening ten matches, Tottenham top the table ahead of the 11th round of fixtures. The only dropped points came away at Brentford (1-1), and at local rivals Arsenal (2-2). In addition to these matches, Ange Postecoglou’s team have won eight games.
Last season was a disappointment as they failed to reach a place in Europe. In the end, Spurs had to settle for eighth place, one point behind Aston Villa who clinched the final European Cup spot.
Tottenham’s last match was a 2-1 away win at Crystal Palace.
Postecoglou could have a problem at left-back for Monday’s capital showdown, as Destiny Udogie missed the win over Palace with the knock he picked up in the win over Fulham. Ben Davies replaced Udogie, however, he was substituted against Palace and is unlikely to be fit for Chelsea. Udogie could return but remains doubtful. Right-back Emerson Royal could start on the left if neither prove themselves fit.
Ivan Perisic (knee), Manor Solomon (knee), Alfie Whiteman (ankle) and Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) are all out.
Chelsea
Chelsea have shown signs of improvement under Pochettino after a chaotic and ultimately disappointing campaign last season. However, taking their chances has been an issue and this was exemplified by the home defeat to Brentford.
Chelsea will have been encouraged by their midweek victory over Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Cup. The Pensioners host Newcastle United in the quarter-finals.
Ben Chilwell (thigh), Romeo Lavia (ankle), Wesley Fofana (knee), Christopher Nkunku (knee), Trevoh Chalobah (thigh) and Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) are all set to miss out against Spurs.
Mykhaylo Mudryk is a minor doubt but shouls be fit to return. Armando Broja (knee) is making progress but will only be fit enough for a place on the bench. Although Reece James completed an hour of the win over Blackburn, he may not be ready to start against Spurs, with his return being managed carefully.
Prediction
Tottenham have really had a great start to the season. Postecoglou who had great success with Celtic, Yokohama and the Australian national team, has made a great early impression. His fast, attacking style of football seems to suit Tottenham very well.
Chelsea have undoubtedly got a talented squad, however, they are yet to find the consistency to make an impression towards the top of the table. There have been signs of improvement and if they can start taking their chances they could possibly go on a run of results that will shoot them up the league.
Tottenham are favourites with the betting companies and should probably be as well. Several times this season there has been a feeling that Spurs may come unstuck, yet they have kept winning, showing character and consistency. We expect them to keep this going. Given the talent Chelsea have and the nature of derbies, bettors might want to go for double chance for Spurs. We predict a home win.
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