London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea meet for the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Chelsea produced a hugely dominant display in the first leg and carry a 2-0 advantage into the second leg, meaning Tottenham have it all to do.
New week, same energy. 💯 pic.twitter.com/lPHDrbnLzY— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 10, 2022
New week, same energy. 💯 pic.twitter.com/lPHDrbnLzY
In the Premier League table, second-place Chelsea lead sixth-place Tottenham by ten points. That said, Spurs have three games in hand over the Blues.
Tottenham avoided a shock exit from the FA Cup on Saturday with a 3-1 victory over lower-league Morecambe.
Antonio Conte’s men trailed for much of the game before goals from Harry Wink, Lucas Moura and Harry Kane sealed the victory in the final 15 minutes.
Spurs have only lost one of their previous nine games in all competitions, picking up seven wins and three draws along the way.
Unfortunately, their sole defeat in that time came against Chelsea last week. They saw just 36% possession at Stamford Bridge and only managed two shots on target.
On the flip side, Chelsea enjoyed the lion’s share of the ball in the first leg and also racked up 19 attempts – six of which were on target.
The Blues claimed an easy 5-1 victory over Chesterfield in the FA Cup on Saturday, seeing 80% possession while recording 24 shots.
Thomas Tuchel’s side head into Wednesday's clash on a ten-game unbeaten streak, having secured five wins and five draws since their last loss.
If the first leg is anything to go by, Chelsea should book their place in the EFL Cup final without any real problems.
Head-to-head: Thanks to last week’s victory, Chelsea have won each of their last three meetings with Spurs across all competitions.
The Blues have also won seven of their past nine encounters with Tottenham, suffering just a single defeat in the process.
Team news: Tottenham will be without the injured trio of Cristian Romero, Steven Bergwijn and Son Heung-min on Wednesday.
Chelsea also have three injury absentees – Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah and Ben Chilwell. First-choice goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is away at AFCON with Senegal, meaning Kepa should deputize.
Spurs are likely to give a batter account of themselves this time around. However, Chelsea are expected to advance to the final.
Forebet predicts that Tottenham and Chelsea will dish up a low-scoring draw on Wednesday, seeing Spurs bow out of the competition.