TEAM NEWS
Kieran Trippier, Danny Rose and Mousa Dembele are also ruled out.
Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen may return from a hamstring injury but Davinson Sanchez faces a spell on the sidelines with a similar problem. Christian Eriksen, who has been managing an abdominal injury, could reclaim a starting spot.
Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic should be available despite missing Croatia’s defeat by England on Sunday because of an ankle problem. Blues head coach Maurizio Sarri also has a number of undisclosed injury doubts following the international break.
MOTD COMMENTATOR’S NOTES
Jonathan Pearce: Both clubs face back-to-back derbies. Make no mistake – this is one of the most spiteful.
Tottenham fans loathe Chelsea’s nouveau riche recent history. Fans of the Blues detest Spurs crowing about the “Glory Glory” days, arguing that since 2004 Chelsea have won almost as many major trophies as Tottenham have in their entire history. There’s no love lost!
Spurs are enjoying their second-best opening phase to a Premier League season. Chelsea are two games shy of a club-record undefeated run from the start of a top-flight campaign.
Post-international injuries and weariness will determine the winners.
VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino: “We’re pushing players to the limit. The line between getting injured or not is so thin.
“We don’t realise that we’re playing with the health of the players. They’re human. It’s so tough. They are young. They need to enjoy life, too.
“They need to spend energy with families, kids, girlfriends. And the guys that are not with girlfriends need to go to try to find one.”
Chelsea head coach Maurizio Sarri: “At the moment, in the Premier League there is a team above the others. This team is Manchester City. Then there is a very good team, Liverpool. For sure, they will be in the first four positions.
“Then there are four or five teams who will have to fight for the Champions League places: Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, [Manchester] United, maybe somebody else.
“For me, they [Manchester City] are stronger than us at the moment. We have to work, we have to work very hard just to try to recover the gap. But, at the moment, the gap is still there.”
LAWRO’S PREDICTION
A lot has been made about Chelsea’s impressive start under Maurizio Sarri, but Tottenham are only a point behind them.
If they win this, Spurs go above the Blues, which is an extra incentive – not that they need it.
Prediction: 2-0
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Tottenham have won three of their past seven Premier League games against Chelsea, as many as they had won in the previous 49 top-flight meetings (D18, L28).
- Spurs are looking to win consecutive league matches against Chelsea for the first time since August 1987.
- Chelsea have kept 21 Premier League clean sheets against Tottenham – a joint-high for the Blues against a particular opponent.
Tottenham Hotspur
- Spurs have lost four of their seven Premier League matches at Wembley against established top-six opposition. They were unbeaten in their final 10 league fixtures at White Hart Lane against those sides (W6, D4).
- Tottenham have won four successive games in league and cup, and have claimed victories in their last six Premier League London derbies.
- Spurs’ tally of 27 points after 12 games is their second highest at this stage of a Premier League season. They were one point better off after a dozen matches in 2011-12.
- Tottenham could lose consecutive home league games for the first time since being beaten by Aston Villa and Manchester City towards the end of the 2014-15 season.
- That was also the most recent occasion they have failed to score in successive top-flight home matches.
- None of Tottenham’s last 16 Premier League games have ended in a draw (W12, L4) – the longest current such run in the division.
- Dele Alli has scored five goals in his last four league and cup games against Chelsea.
Chelsea
- The Blues have kept clean sheets in four of their five away league games this season. The only goal they have conceded on the road was scored by Newcastle’s Joselu in August.
- Chelsea are unbeaten in 12 league games under Maurizio Sarri, and are two matches short of equalling their longest undefeated run at the start of a top-flight season (set in 2014-15).
- The Blues have only won one of their last eight league games away to established top-six rivals (D3, L4) – their 2-1 victory against Spurs at Wembley in August 2017.
- Chelsea have attempted 8,706 passes in this season’s Premier League – in excess of 400 more than any other side prior to the weekend fixtures.
Source: BBC News
