Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea Premier League
Chelsea entertain Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in a London derby that will have repercussions of the utmost importance for the two clubs. While Tim Sherwood has his men fighting for a place in the Champions League next season, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has his eyes set on the title.
German forward Andre Schurrle netted a second-half hat-trick to keep Chelsea top of the Premier League with a 3-1 win in the west London derby at Fulham, who remain bottom of the table. Victory, combined with Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at Stoke, sent Jose Mourinho’s side four points clear at the top with 10 games remaining, although Manchester City sit six points back with two games in hand.
Mourinho continues to insist Chelsea are not genuine contenders for the Premier League title but the statistics seem to suggest otherwise. The Special One’s side sit top of the table at the start of March and the Portuguese boss has never lost a title from that position in seven times of asking. Chelsea will be aiming to extend their unbeaten run in the league to 15 matches, and looking at history they are favourites to claim maximum points at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have not suffered defeat against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge since 1990.
The reverse fixture ended 1-1 at White Hart Lane with the goals scored by Gylfi Sigurdsson and John Terry. Fernando Torres was unlucky to be sent off in that match when Mike Dean adjudged him to have fouled Jan Vertonghen as the two players contested a 50-50 ball. Chelsea’s biggest threat will no doubt come from the masterclass of Eden Hazard.
The Belgian has developed into one of the very best players in the Premier League arguably alongside Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero. Samuel Eto’o has shone in fits and starts, and has scored goals in big games against Liverpool and Manchester United, however, since Torres’ return from injury, the Spaniard has started the last two games for Chelsea and has impressed.
Torres scored Chelsea’s only goal in the 1-1 draw with Galatasaray in the Champions League and was influential in The Blues’ most recent win against Fulham. Jose Mourinho has never lost a Premier League home game as Chelsea manager and it will take something special for Spurs to get a victory at Stamford Bridge.
Roberto Soldado scored a rare goal from open play as Tottenham pulled within four points of fourth place with a 1-0 victory at home to Cardiff City in the Premier League last Sunday at White Hart Lane. Soldado finished a fine counter-attack midway through the first half to score the game’s only goal. Cardiff hit the crossbar moments later, but were unable to find an equaliser.
Spurs face a difficult task of a top four finish as they travel to Stamford Bridge to take on the league leaders where they have never won a Premier League match in 21 visits. The Lilywhites’ last away game came as a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of strugglers Norwich. One concern for Tim Sherwood will be that his side are yet to record a clean sheet on the road since he took over, and they will need to improve defensively if they are to get anything out of this match.
Spurs are undoubtedly looking more dangerous under Sherwood as the team play with fluidity and confidence, something they struggled to do under Andre Villas-Boas. Sherwood has brought in a free flowing style that encourages attacking impetus, and has also brought in youth players such as Nabil Bentaleb and Harry Kane, and most surprisingly of all Emmanuel Adebayor.
Adebayor has been impressive this season accumulating eight goals and three assists in 13 appearances and will no doubt pose a threat against Chelsea’s defensive pairing of John Terry and Gary Cahill.
The bookies have priced up Chelsea as firm favourites at 6/10 with Tottenham given little chance at 51/10. Mourinho knows that his side cannot afford to drop points in the Premier League and they will be fully motivated to grab the three points against an inconsistent Spurs side. Back the boys in blue to reign victorious.
