Chelsea vs. Tottenham: Tactical Preview of London Derby
A bounty of midweek Premier League action culminates with a delicious tie, as Chelsea host Tottenham Hotspur in a London derby match.
Let's take a tactical look at the fixture and see how it will be shaped.
Chelsea News
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Chelsea are in pretty damn good nick here, as only Diego Costa (suspension) and Nathan Ake (injury) are missing from the provisional squad, per The Daily Mail.
Loic Remy and Didier Drogba are fighting among themselves to replace the Spaniard up front, with the latter the sharper after a substitute run-out against Schalke yielding a goal and an assist.
Although it's a short week and rotation has not been heavy to date, don't bank on Jose Mourinho to swap out too many of his players. Andre Schurrle, Ramires and Filipe Luis are due a game, but no one is performing poorly and deserves to come out.
Spurs News
The Daily Mail report Kyle Walker played for the U21 side in a bid to step up his fitness this week, but he's still at least a week away. Emmanuel Adebayor will be assessed, but he'll make the bench at best, while Etienne Capoue and Danny Rose are options.
Ultimately, Mauricio Pochettino will likely be loath to fiddle with a team that really found its groove against Everton on Sunday. The Nabil Bentaleb-Ryan Mason midfield was good, Christian Eriksen was great and Roberto Soldado scored.
Harry Kane was magnificent through the centre just off the striker—his best position!—and Ben Davies showed flashes in place of Rose.
Tactical Point 1: Poch's Spurs?
Pochettino's arrival was, in some parts, falsely advertised as a dawn of possession football. What it is, in fact, is the dawn of high-pressing football where possible, and it shouldn't be a surprise that it's taken a while for his template to stick.
After all, it took Southampton, his former club, the entire latter part of the 2012-13 season to adjust and from there the 2013-14 season was a wild success. As we creep into December, it feels like Spurs are showing the same understanding Saints eventually did.
Everton's midfield performance at the weekend was panned but anyone would have found it difficult in there against a rabid Bentaleb-Mason combination. Per WhoScored.com, Spurs totaled 39 tackles, 23 interceptions and forced two errors that led to goals.
Soldado may not have been the most popular guy in north London over the past few months, but now the midfield pressing game is starting to take shape, he is the guy to profit from turnovers and misplaced passes once he's found his groove.
We'll see how ready this midfield are when they take on the league's best side soon.
Tactical Point 2: Remy or Drogba?
Chelsea's game plan has been set in stone all season, and a huge part of it has been Costa's vertical runs in behind. He loves to snake in between the full-back and centre-back and demands the early ball. If he doesn't score, he at least gets the Blues into the box.
Mourinho will need to choose carefully between Remy and Drogba, as both demand different types of midfield play. Remy is a Costa-lite in how he runs and operates, but he's not as strong or as trustworthy with the ball. Drogba requires the ball into the body and cannot run in behind, evidenced during the cameo against Schalke.
What it comes down to, then, is how Mourinho plans to open Spurs up. The smart money goes on a Remy start—not only to appease the Frenchman after limited playing time but also because Drogba is exceptionally one-dimensional nowadays.
