Graham Potter and his boys have been left stranded at the shores of intense scrutiny lately, the Blues remarkable winless run of games continued last weekend when they lost on home soil to Southampton despite big spend in January. While Chelsea can console themselves with their dominance at Spurs since moving to the new stadium, Potter will be hoping an already disgruntled fan base can finally get something to cheer about in a pulsating London derby encounter on Sunday.
Tottenham team news :
Spurs will be searching for some touchline inspiration to rally them to two straight derby victories without the absence of manager Antonio Conte. The former Chelsea coach continues to recover from surgery as assistant Cristian Stellini who took charge of the West Ham game in the absence of Conte will be on the touchline to rally his troops against the Blues.
In terms of injuries, Rodrigo Bentancur, Hugo Lloris, Sessegnon and Bissouma are unavailable for the match however Emerson Royal’s redemption arc is something that’ll delight the Spurs fans heading into this fixture.
Chelsea team news :
Chelsea still have to do without Ngolo Kante, Christian Pulisic and the injured Edouard Mendy and Cesar Azpilicueta who suffered a head injury against Southampton. The Blues long injury list has drastically reduced in recent weeks as the likes of Denis Zakaria, Kovacic, Reece James all made a return to full training and are in contention for the game at Spurs. While the game might come a bit too early for Ngolo Kante, Potter will be looking to reintegrate the likes of Mudryk, James, Sterling and Kai Havertz Into the starting XI.
Potential Tottenham line up :
Forster; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Emerson, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Davies; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
Potential Chelsea line up :
Kepa; James, Silva, Badiashile, Chilwell; Kovacic, Fernandez; Ziyech, Felix, Sterling, Havertz.
My preferred Chelsea line up :
Kepa; James, Silva, Badiashile, Chilwell; Kovacic, Fernandez; Mudryk, Felix, Sterling, Havertz.
Tottenham have already tasted one London derby win at home against West Ham last week, Stellini and Conte will be looking to prolong the sour taste of defeat on Potter’s tongue when the blues visit whilst Potter can simply not afford to drop points in this fixture, the pressure to write the myriad of wrongs on a positive note since the new year must start with a win at Spurs.
