Chelsea face a stern challenge in their hopes of securing a much-needed win in league football as they lock horns with city rivals Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday’s derby showdown.
Graham Potter’s Blues have endured a horrid run of form in recent weeks and as the pressure on the Chelsea head coach mounts, the weekend trip to Spurs will be another test awaiting Potter and his side who sit 10th in the Premier League table.
The reverse fixture earlier in the season was one which was high on drama on the sidelines and saw the then Blues boss Thomas Tuchel get involved in an altercation with his opposite number Antonio Conte following the full time whistle.
Since then, a lot has changed at Stamford Bridge, with Tuchel given the axe later that year following Chelsea’s poor run of results and in came the English manager Graham Potter as the new man in the dugout but no turnaround in form has yet been on show.
With 15 fixtures to go and a top four finish the end goal for Potter’s Chelsea, the game against another Champions League hopefuls in Spurs would be of much importance besides the competition for supremacy in a London derby.
Playing on the road, however, has spelled out disastrous results for the Blues in recent times with the west Londoners without a win in each of their last seven away top flight fixtures.
Chelsea’s last outing came in the shocking 1-0 defeat on home turf to basement side Southampton while Spurs lost by the same scoreline to AC Milan in midweek’s Champions League action at the San Siro.
WHEN AND WHERE?
Date – Saturday 25 February 2023
Time – 2 PM GMT
Venue –Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
TEAM NEWS
Armando Broja and Edou Mendy remain the long-term injury concerns for the Blues with the former likely to miss the remainder of the season.
Potter, however, will be delighted to call upon the services of midfield man N’Golo Kante who has not played a minute under the new Chelsea boss after being sidelined since last August.
Another long-absent first-teamer, Christian Pulisic, is closing in on a return to full team training and the American winger could find himself on the bench for the Spurs clash.
KEY BATTLE
Harry Kane vs Joao Felix
Both teams would be out to attack from the start and with either front line looking lethal with star names in the mix, forwards could well dictate the result for the derby.
Spurs have England skipper Harry Kane, who became the club’s all-time leading goalscorer earlier in the month, has his future at Tottenham subject to much speculation ahead of this summer but that would not stop him from troubling the Chelsea backline.
Chelsea’s on loan striker Joao Felix has impressed in his time so far at Stamford Bridge, barring that sending off on his debut game, and the Portugal international will look to find the back of the net once again when he goes up against Spurs.
MATCH PREDICTION
Tottenham are well poised to get the better of a struggling Chelsea side whose away form has been horrid and looks unlikely to change for the better this weekend.
Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Chelsea
