Tottenham vs. Chelsea: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream, TV Info
Few, if any, will have anticipated Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea's first meeting of the season being a game between fifth and 15th in the Premier League.
Mauricio Pochettino's north Londoners stalking the Champions League places is somewhat expected. The baffling descent of the Premier League champions to the division's lower reaches less so.
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A first win in four league games over Norwich City last time out in the Premier League, their third in all competitions in November, has Jose Mourinho's men hopeful a resurgence could be in the offing.
"It’s a start," Cesar Azpilicueta told Chelsea's official website. "Obviously we want to carry on, we are in a position where we’ve come from two wins in a row, two games in which we’ve played really well and players are getting confidence back."
A win over an in-form Tottenham side would be a welcome boost to Chelsea's hopes of clawing their way back up to the table—a reminder of their considerable, if currently doubted, credentials ahead of a packed Christmas schedule that provides ample opportunity to reduce the gap to the top four.
Spurs will be well aware of what a derby victory could mean for Chelsea and are understandably wary of taking their rivals for granted, even with their current struggles.
"Chelsea have quality all over the pitch—we know that and there’s nothing new about it," Christian Eriksen said to his club's website. "We have to make sure we don’t make any mistakes, keep ourselves in the game for as long as possible, keep it tight and then assert our own game plan."
Such balanced strategy has informed their ascent up the table and the unbeaten run that extends back to the opening day. Spurs will not want to lose that and capital bragging rights in the process.
Date: Sunday, November 29
Time: 12 p.m. GMT/7 a.m. ET
Venue: White Hart Lane, London
TV Info: BT Sport 1 (UK only)/USA Network (U.S. only)
Live Stream: BT Sport app or online (UK only)/NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S. only)
Form Lines
| Tottenham Hotspur | Chelsea |
| Europa League, November 26: Qarabag (A)—Win: 0-1 | Champions League, November 24: Maccabi Tel-Aviv (A)—Win: 0-4 |
| Premier League, November 22: West Ham United (H)—Win: 4-1 | Premier League, November 21: Norwich City (H)—Win: 1-0 |
| Premier League, November 8: Arsenal (A)—Draw: 1-1 | Premier League, November 7: Stoke City (A)—Loss: 1-0 |
| Europa League, November 5: Anderlecht (H)—Win: 2-1 | Champions League, November 4: Dynamo Kiev (A)—Win: 2-1 |
| Premier League, November 2: Aston Villa (H)—Win: 3-1 | Premier League, October 31: Liverpool (H)—Loss: 1-3 |
Team News
Tottenham are without the suspended Dele Alli but can again call on Erik Lamela after he missed the win over West Ham United in Spurs' last league game with his own ban.
Nabil Bentaleb has not recovered in time from an injury he suffered on international duty. Longer-term absentees Nacer Chadli and Alex Pritchard remain out.
As of Friday, Mourinho was uncertain as to whether Ramires and John Terry would be fit in time after suffering injuries on the Champions League trip to face Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, per Chelsea's official website.
He also revealed goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is back in training but not match fit. Radamel Falcao is still out.
Predicted Lineups
Tottenham's goalkeeper and defence has not changed in recent weeks, the familiar back four of Kyle Walker, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose looking increasingly like a unit in front of captain Hugo Lloris. Barring injury or suspension, it is unlikely to be altered anytime soon.
Up top, Harry Kane is an obvious starter. The only uncertainty in the Spurs team to take on Chelsea is over the make up of the midfield.
Eric Dier will be deployed in his usual anchoring role with Mousa Dembele likely to be alongside him. Pochettino may be tempted to start him further forward but is ultimately likely to prefer to utilise his heft to reinforce Spurs centrally.
Eriksen and Son Heung-Min played in Europe against Qarabag on Thursday, but both are likely to start.
Pochettino could opt to use Ryan Mason between them so as to provide the option of switching with Dembele and also for Spurs to be able to field a more solid midfield trio. Do not be surprised, however, if Lamela is selected with the aim of recreating the attacking-midfield three whose flexibility caused Manchester City so many problems in September.
Asmir Begovic in goal and Diego Costa up front are almost certain to bookend the Chelsea team.
If Terry is unavailable, it will mean Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma in central defence. Mourinho's full-backs are a little harder to predict, but Azpilicueta and Baba Rahman's athleticism may see them get the nod as Chelsea look to match Spurs for energy.
Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic will be the likely midfield two. Further forward, Eden Hazard and Willian are just about nailed on to start.
The only question, then, is where they'll be deployed.
In the above formation, Hazard is placed out left with Pedro providing the balance on the right. Do not be surprised if Mourinho has something else in mind with Oscar also among his available options.
Tottenham Hotspur Player to Watch: Mousa Dembele
Discussing Dembele on the eve of the season, Pochettino spoke about the "need to try to find the best position for him [to] show the qualities he has." The player struggled for form in the previous campaign and had seen his playing time diminish accordingly.
Almost four months on, the Belgium international is looking a key cog in Tottenham's engine room, his qualities most definitely evident in arguably a season-best performance against West Ham on Sunday.
As solid as his individual numbers were, it was the determination that characterised his application that was most impressive. For the first time since early 2013-14, Spurs look decisively better for Dembele's presence.
According to the Mirror's Darren Lewis and Dave Kidd, Chelsea are said to be interested in signing the midfielder in the upcoming transfer window.
Dembele will not be going anywhere in January, but Spurs supporters will hope he produces another performance worthy of piquing their interest further.
Chelsea Player to Watch: Diego Costa
Chelsea's improvement in recent games is beginning to raise spirits around the champions. One player still battling to fully break out of the slump is Costa.
Despite scoring his side's winner against Norwich, the striker is still suffering from "a glaring lack of belief," according to Bleacher Report's Chelsea correspondent Garry Hayes. "Too often on Saturday he was found out of position, unwilling to run the hard yards into the danger areas to finish off attacks."
The same criticism could be made of Costa against Maccabi Tel Aviv too. Until the game opened up in the second half, his lack of movement and adventure was hurting Chelsea's attempts to break down the Israeli outfit's resistant back line.
Costa's scrappy, powerful assault on the Spurs defence in last season's Capital One Cup final was a good example of the thrilling if not always savoury template he created for himself. If he has not lived up to it of late, the occasion and importance of a big London derby may provide the inspiration he needs to reawaken such trademark fiery ideals.
He need only look down the other end of the pitch at Spurs' main man, Kane—a similar front man in terms of guts, if not quite temperament— for a reminder of just how effective and influential a centre-forward willing to cover every blade of grass can be.
Key Battle: How Do Chelsea Deal with Tottenham's Pressing?
If few predicted Tottenham and Chelsea's current league placings, fewer still would have identified the most discussed tactical feature heading into this fixture being Tottenham's pressing game.
It close to obliterated West Ham. In different forms—in terms of personnel and strategical wrinkles enforced by varying selections—it has been responsible for the assertive, often high-octane assaults that have hurt or at least severely troubled plenty of other teams too.
In the transitional talents of players such as Azpilicueta, Hazard and Willian, Chelsea do have talent with the ability to catch Spurs out if they push too far forward. Qarabag almost did a few times midweek.
When the home side do get bodies behind the ball, the Blues can be tidy enough in their passing game to occupy Spurs and take the wind out of their sails. An enforced monotony that could be enough to tire a team weary from their efforts on Thursday—much as Arsenal did earlier in November, albeit it was through crosses and set plays they ultimately earned their equaliser.
If Costa is feeling more vigorous than he has of late, the option of bypassing Spurs' closing down altogether with long balls forward could also be considered, though West Ham's similar attempts to go direct to Andy Carroll were easily anticipated and dealt with by Alderweireld and Vertonghen.
All this will be easier said than done if Pochettino's men play with the ferocity they did last time out at White Hart Lane. While paying due respect to the titleholders, the plan may be to overwhelm and try score against Chelsea before they even have a chance to get going.
Odds (via Odds Shark)
Tottenham: 17-10
Chelsea: 8-5
Draw: 9-4
