Chelsea vs Tottenham preview, H2H, team news, line-ups and prediction

Chelsea welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Stamford Bridge on Thursday as they look to achieve their record 10th League double over their London rivals. 

Both teams enter this match at the back of a two-match winless run with Chelsea losing to Arsenal and drawing to Aston Villa while Spurs on the other hand have recorded successive losses to Newcastle United and Arsenal.

While Chelsea are fighting for a slim chance of a European qualification, Tottenham have secured a spot in Europe as they currently sit fifth in the Premier League table on 60 points, seven points adrift of Aston Villa in fourth place.

After a 5:0 humbling by Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, the Blues sought out to make amends when they travelled to Birmingham to face Aston Villa at Villa Park. An early Marc Cucurella own goal and a Morgan Rogers strike gave the home side a 2-0 cushion heading into the break.

One could suggest that Mauricio Pochettino’s half-time team talk involved a fiery oration and a rallying cry for more aggression, intensity, physicality and team cohesion while also imploring tactical tweaks that saw Cucurella invert into midfield.

These ultimately worked for the Blues as they came out from the tunnel with more vigour and rage, completely dominating Villa from the start of the half till the finish. Noni Madueke halved the deficit before a spectacular strike from Conor Gallagher drew the tide level. Axel Disasi thought he had given the Blues the lead only for his goal to be chalked off by the VAR.

The draw marked the fourth time in Premier League history that the Blues avoided defeat after going two goals down at halftime.

With five wins and one draw in their last six matches at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea now gear up to host a Tottenham side that have been subpar in away matches, recording only two wins in their last ten matches played outside North London.

Ange Postecoglou’s side mounted a late surge against Arsenal but it was not enough as the Gunners ran out 3:2 winners at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

A Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own goal gave Arsenal the lead before Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz extended the away side’s lead in the first half as Spurs went into the break without a shot on target despite holding a higher percentage of possession.

Christian Romero who played as a centre-forward for parts of the game capitalised on David Raya’s howler to score for Tottenham before Son Heung-Min scored a penalty late. However, hopes of a late comeback were dashed at the sound of the final whistle as the League leaders held firm to thwart further goal attempts from Spurs.

With a fourth-place finish seemingly out of sight, Spurs will hope to finish their season on a high note and Postecoglou will look to guide his troupes to their first win at Stamford Bridge in six years.

Chelsea vs Tottenham match details

• Date: Thursday, 2 May, 2024
• Location: London, England
• Venue: Stamford Bridge
• Kick-off time: 7:30 PM BST, 2:30 PM ET, 6:30 PM UTC
• Referee: Robert Jones
• Assistant referees: Ian Hussin, Wade Smith
• Fourth official: Tim Robinson
• VAR: Michael Salisbury
• Assistant VAR: James Mainwaring
• Tickets: Fans can buy Chelsea vs Spurs tickets through the official club exchanges or via an online reseller such as Seatsnet.com.

Match stats and head-to-head

•The Blues have won seven of their previous nine Premier League matches at Stamford Bridge including winning five of those by a one-goal margin.

•Postecoglou’s side have opened the scoring in their last nine Premier League matches at home.

•At least two goals have been scored in Chelsea’s last five Premier League matches at home.

•Tottenham have secured only one victory at Stamford Bridge in the past 34 years and 33 games. Their solitary victory came in the 3-1 win in April 2018 while Pochettino was still manager of the club.

•Postecoglou’s side have recorded only two wins from their last ten away matches in the Premier League while scoring only one goal and conceding eight from their last three matches away from home.

•Only against Manchester United(39) have Spurs recorded more losses in the Premier League than they have against Chelsea(34).

• These two sides have clashed 176 times with Chelsea’s 78 wins giving them the historical edge in this fixture. Tottenham have recorded 56 wins while 42 matches have ended in a draw.

• Only against Manchester City(10) have Chelsea recorded more Premier League doubles than Tottenham(9). On the other hand, Spurs’ nine Premier League double losses to Chelsea are the most they have suffered by any team after United(10).

• The Blues have scored 29 goals in their last 10 matches at home, as many as they had scored in their previous 27 home matches.

Team news 

Chelsea’s injury concerns keep increasing with the latest being Thiago Silva– who announced his departure from the club at the end of the season,  was forced off in the draw against Villa with a groin injury. The 38-year-old is yet to recover and will unlikely feature in Thursday’s clash against Spurs.

Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia are out of the season with knee and thigh injuries respectively while Malo Gusto, Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka are ruled out for this game with knee injuries.

Raheem Sterling and Robert Sanchez are facing a race against time to be fit for the London Derby after a back problem and illness stopped both players from featuring in Chelsea’s last couple of matches.

On a positive note, club captain, Reece James, as well as Christopher Nkunku and Levi Colwill were pictured in team training but the trio are yet to be match-ready and will not take part in this game.

Enzo Fernandez announced the successful operation of a reoccurring hernia issue and the Argentina International has been ruled out for the rest of the season while Lesley Ugochukwu is close to making his return from a lengthy thigh injury but will not feature against Spurs.

For Tottenham, Postecoglou will be without former Chelsea striker, Timo Werner– who sustained a hamstring injury during the North London Derby clash with Arsenal and the 28-year-old will miss the trip to West London to face his former club.

Destiny Udogie and Ryan Sessegnon are Tottenham’s longest absentees having been ruled out for the rest of the season with thigh injuries while Fraser Forster and Manor Solomon are also facing lengthy spells on the sidelines with ankle and knee injuries respectively.

Oliver Skipp is tipped to recover from a minor knock to be in contention for the clash.

Predicted starting lineup

Chelsea predicted starting lineup:

Petrovic; Chalobah, Disasi, Badiashile, Cucurella; Caicedo, Gallagher; Madueke, Palmer, Jackson; Mudryk.

Tottenham Hotspur predicted starting lineup:

Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Davies; Sarr, Bissouma; Kulusevski, Maddison, Richarlison; Son.

Prediction

Two teams that prioritize attacking fluidity over defensive solidity are set to clash this midweek.

Spurs will seek for revenge over their 4:1 loss in the first leg while Chelsea will need a win to revive any hope of European qualification next season.

A plethora of injury concerns has left Pochettino short of options in key areas like right back and Postecoglou will count on the pace and trickery of Son to cause the Blues problems.

A high-scoring affair is expected in this game but Chelsea are tipped to continue their superiority in this fixture.

We’re predicting a 3:2 win for Chelsea.