A London derby will definitely be the main event of the Premier League on Saturday as Tottenham Hotspur will host Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Both teams will have pretty different states of mind after their EFL Cup matches. Spurs were thrown out of the competition by Newcastle United, while Chelsea won a thriller against Wolverhampton Wanderers by 4–3.
Thomas Frank’s Spurs were overpowered by Newcastle in the air and lost 3–0 at St. James’ Park although they had recently defeated Everton 3–1 in the Premier League — a game Micky van de Ven’s double made possible. Nevertheless, the North Londoners’ problem of going from strength to weakness still exists as they have managed only one win in their last five matches in all competitions. But Spurs sit in third in the log, five points off Arsenal who are top of the league.
Tottenham record at home is bad as they have only gotten a point from their last three league matches. Chelsea can take some heart from that figure as they have won five league games at this ground — more than any other visiting side.
Enzo Maresca’s young Chelsea are a bit like that as well, sometimes they sparkle, but more often than not, they are inconsistent. The 4–3 EFL Cup win over Wolves was a perfect example of their offensive strengths, four different scorers all aged 21 or under. However, an unexpected 2–1 defeat to Sunderland in the league has made them drop to the ninth position.
Spurs’ as been sprained with injuries with notable absences being James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, and Yves Bissouma. As for Chelsea, Liam Delap (suspended) will not be able to play while Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, and Mykhaylo Mudryk are injured.
Both teams are capable of surprising and have weak defenses, thus, one more disastrous episode in this intense rivalry is guaranteed. They will probably score a few goals each, and hence a draw that will be battled until the last minute could happen.
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2–2 Chelsea
