Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge where he began his Premier League managerial journey. After conceding a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea at home on December 22, Spurs will be looking to overtake the Blues in a huge game in the top four.
The top four race has been opened up with Spurs sitting just one point behind the Blues after three straight wins, while Frank Lampard has overseen just one win in six games.
While Spurs push for Champions League qualification, their season has been disrupted by long-term injuries to Harry Kane and Son Heung-min. The Spurs striker has been sidelined with a hamstring injury and has been ruled out for eight weeks. The England captain sustained the injury in the process of scoring an offside goal at St Mary’s on New Year’s Day.
While the South Korean international suffered a fractured arm during their Premier League win over Aston Villa on Sunday and is set to be sidelined for some weeks. Since Kane got injured, Son has now scored four goals in his last three Premier League games and has netted 16 times in all competitions so far this season, including scoring a brace against Villa on Sunday.
Chelsea are also not without injuries of their own. Midfielder N’Golo Kanté is out with an adductor injury which he suffered during the match against Manchester United and he said to be ruled out for three weeks. Andreas Christensen, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic are major doubts for the game while Tammy Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are set to feature in the crucial match after returning from injury.
Lampard is set to call on Mason Mount, while Kurt Zouma could replace Christensen, who suffered a broken nose in the clash against United. The Chelsea manager also has to decide whether to retain Willy Caballero in the goal or t recall Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Spurs have been boosted by the return of Erik Lamela and Tanguy Ndombele from injury after both players started from the bench against RB Leipzig in the Champions League. Chelsea has been dreadful at home but they will fancy their chances against Spurs who are without a recognized striker.
Head to head (H2H) history and results
- Chelsea wins: 71
- Draws: 40
- Tottenham wins: 54
- Chelsea have won three on the bounce against Spurs after losing the same number in a row.
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- Chelsea can secure a third successive Premier League win over Spurs for the first time since March 2006, when the Blues were managed by Jose Mourinho.
- Frank Lampard, who made 140 Premier League appearances under Mourinho, is aiming to become only the second manager to win his first two league matches against the Portuguese after Boavista’s Jaime Pacheco in 2001.
- Tottenham have won just one of their last 33 away games against Chelsea in all competitions (D11 L21), a 3-1 win in April 2018 in a Premier League fixture.
- The away side has won three of the last five Premier League meetings between Chelsea and Spurs (L2), with that occurring just once in the previous 23 games (W1 D9 L13).
- Chelsea have lost seven home games in all competitions this season – they last lost more at Stamford Bridge in a single campaign back in 1985-86 (8).
- Chelsea are winless in four Premier League games (D2 L2), last having a longer such run in the competition between October-December 2012 (7 games).
- Spurs, who have won 499 top-flight away matches, can become the seventh team to reach 500, after Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton, Aston Villa, and Chelsea.
