Match Focus: Spurs Looking to Build Unbridgeable Gap from Chelsea

There’s little doubt as to the top game in the Premier League this Sunday, as Spurs kick-off proceedings with a home encounter against London rivals Chelsea. It’s been rare that the North London side have had bragging rights over the Blues, but while Chelsea came out on top in the last meeting between the two in the Capital One Cup final, Tottenham have the happier fans so far this season, sitting as they do a full 10 points and 10 places above Mourinho’s men.

Mauricio Pochettino has his side playing very effective, high intensity football at present. Spurs are unbeaten since the first game of the season, when a Kyle Walker own goal was the only thing to separate them and Manchester United. Only  PSG and Bayern are on a longer unbeaten streak in Europe’s top 5 leagues than Tottenham (12), who will be confident of a repeat performance from this fixture last season.

As with Leicester’s meeting with Manchester United on Saturday, this match is a repeat of an 8-goal thriller from last season, in which Spurs came out on top with a 5-3 win on New Year’s Day. The hosts will certainly be hopeful of troubling Chelsea’s backline, with only the league’s bottom five sides conceding more goals than their opponents this weekend (23).

The fans making the short trip from West London will, however, hope that their side have turned a corner, recording back-to-back wins in all competitions for only the third time this season. While a 4-0 win in midweek will have boosted the Blues’ confidence, they are still yet to record successive victories in the Premier League, aiming to do so having narrowly beaten Norwich last weekend.

View the full match preview and predicted line-ups here

The visitors hold a slight advantage in having played two days earlier than Tottenham in midweek, with both sides facing long trips back from Israel and Azerbaijan respectively. Both sides fielded strong line-ups in Europe, so ensuring a high tempo for the game’s entirety will be a tough ask.

Harry Kane will again lead the charge for Spurs and scored twice in this fixture last season. He will also come up against a Chelsea backline that will be without captain John Terry - who has an impressive goalscoring record against Tottenham - so the striker will be particularly confident of stretching his sensational scoring streak in the league. With 7 goals in his last 4 appearances, the England international has put a slow start to the season firmly behind him, with a WhoScored rating of 7.48 now the third highest in the Tottenham ranks.

While he started on Thursday night, I’m backing Kane to have the reserves of energy to be up for this London derby, and the absence of John Terry should aid his chances of registering on the scoresheet once more. As a result I’m a buyer and will take the risk by trading shares in the region of £0.50 during the game in Buabook’s match market if Kane hasn’t scored before half-time.

For the visitors, one man who will perhaps want to win more than most given his connections to Arsenal is Cesc Fabregas. The Spaniard has had a difficult start to the campaign, with his form ultimately tailing off since the start of the year, but he remains one of the few players that Mourinho has kept his faith in this season. The midfielder has certainly improved since the recent international break - playing a starring role in Spain’s friendly with England - registering only his second league assist of the season last weekend.

Tottenham may lose a little intensity in midfield, not only due to their exploits on Thursday night but also given the absence of Dele Alli through suspension. If Fabregas does get more time on the ball as a result he is more than capable of pulling the strings in the middle of the park, though I would only be a buyer if shares dropped below the £0.30 mark in this match market.

With plenty of needle between the sides we can certainly expect a feisty affair, regardless of the key players missing on either side. Pochettino will know that if Tottenham can extend their unbeaten run this weekend it will be an incredibly tough task for Chelsea to make up ground on his side. A win for visitors, meanwhile, would no doubt restore confidence that a top 4 finish is not yet out of the question.

You can trade the values of any of the players on display as Spurs host Chelsea with Buabook, the first player trading exchange based on detailed statistics