Tottenham vs Chelsea Preview | Triple Boost For Blues | Expected XI’s | Prediction

Tottenham will welcome Chelsea to Wembley this evening for the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final. 

Spurs head in to the game off the back of an impressive 7-0 victory over Tranmere in the third round of the FA Cup while they stayed on the coat-tails of Manchester City and Liverpool in the league after beating Cardiff last week.

However, Mauricio Pochettino will be focussed on the League Cup this evening as he tries to go one step closer to ending Tottenham’s 10-year wait for a trophy and secure the first piece of silverware of his management career.

Maurizio Sarri is also seeking to win his first major trophy and Chelsea will be out for revenge after Tottenham ended their unbeaten start to the season with a 3-1 win at Wembley back in November.

Team news

Tottenham will be without Lucas Moura after he suffered a knee injury against Tranmere on Friday night but Erik Lamela returns to the squad following illness.

Mousa Dembele and Jan Vertonghen won’t be involved despite returning to full training after recovering from long-term injuries while Eri Dier and Victor Wanyama remain on the sidelines.

Paulo Gazzaniga will start in goal while the likes of Kieran Trippier, Toby Alderweireld, Danny Rose, Harry Winks, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane are all set for recalls.

Chelsea have been handed a triple boost as Pedro, Willian and Olivier Giroud all took part in full training ahead of the game after recovering from injuries that have kept them out in recent games. Sarri is unlikely to risk all three from the start but they should all be included in the squad.

Mateo Kovacic is also back in contention after recovering from illness but Ruben Loftus-Cheek is out with a back injury while Cesc Fabregas won’t be involved as he near a move to Monaco.

Expected line-ups

Predicted Score

Tottenahm 2-1 Chelsea: Spurs have won their last two games against Chelsea and are rightly favourites to win the first leg on home soil. However, Chelsea are formidable in cup competitions and will give Tottenham a tough game this evening. I think Spurs will edge it tonight but it will be a close game that will set it up nicely for the return leg.