The weekend’s Premier League action kicks off at Stamford Bridge on Saturday as London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur go head-to-head.
If Spurs win, they will leapfrog Chelsea and move into the top four. However, three points for Frank Lampard’s side would see them move four points clear of Tottenham.
With Chelsea on a poor run of form, and Jose Mourinho’s men winning three league games in a row, the Blues lead over Spurs has been slashed to just one point.
Chelsea lost to Newcastle last month before drawing with Arsenal. The Blues were held to another draw by Leicester at the beginning of February but returned from a two-week layoff with a disappointing home defeat to Manchester United last time out.
Interestingly, Lampard’s side have only managed to win five of their 13 league games at Stamford Bridge this term, while winning seven away from home in 2019/20.
By contrast, Tottenham have been poor on the road this season. Spurs have claimed just three victories in 13 away games in the Premier League.
But a run of three straight victories has propelled Tottenham up the table. After beating Norwich, Spurs claimed an excellent win over Manchester City before beating Aston Villa in dramatic style last weekend.
Defeat to RB Leipzig in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie in midweek brought Tottenham back down to earth, so they will be eager to bounce back against Chelsea.
However, Tottenham’s recent record in this fixture isn’t good. Chelsea have won the previous three meetings between the two teams in all competitions.
A Willian brace saw Chelsea claim a 2-0 victory over Spurs in the reverse fixture just before Christmas. Lampard will surely be reminding his players about that win in the lead up to the game.
Tammy Abraham will be a big addition to the starting line-up this weekend if he can recover from injury in time to face Spurs. Chelsea lacked an attacking threat against Man Utd. N’Golo Kante also went off injured in their previous game, so he is a doubt for Saturday’s clash.
As for Tottenham, Son Heung-min is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, while key striker Harry Kane is also missing. Erik Lamela could come into the starting eleven after coming off the bench to impress against RB Leipzig in midweek.
This is set to be an open game with both sides looking to attack, but neither side has been solid at the back in recent games.
Forebet predicts that this game will produce over 3.5 goals, with a draw the most likely outcome.