STAR PREVIEW: Spurs v Chelsea

Jose Mourinho’s return to Tottenham has been a big success so far and he can continue the good run with victory over London rivals Chelsea. Mourinho arrived with Tottenham’s season in disarray and whilst there’s still over half the campaign to go, the effect he’s had has been undeniable. They have won four out of five Premier League fixtures since he arrived, and their defeat to Manchester United looks an awful lot better given their win over Manchester City since.

Much of this has come from Spurs’ rejuvenated midfield and attack since. Dele Alli’s transformation since the new manager arrived has given a tremendous boost to everything Spurs do going forward and one of Alli, Son Hueng-Min, Harry Kane or Lucas Moura has scored in every single game under Jose apart from a 3-1 defeat at Bayern Munich since when a second string side was played.

They arrive today just three points behind Chelsea, who have made a strong fist of things with a young side under Frank Lampard so far this season, but who are also struggling in recent weeks. They showed a huge amount of promise in a 2-1 defeat at Manchester city but they were disappointing in defeats against West Ham (0-1), Everton (1-3) and a Bournemouth side who had been on a five game losing run (0-1).

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea
Premier League
16:30 Sky Sports Premier League / Sky Sports Main Event / Sky Sports Ultra HD

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches, Since 2010)
FEB 2019 PREMIER LEAGUE Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham
JAN 2019 CARABO CUP Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham
JAN 2019 CARABAO CUP Tottenham 1-0 Chelsea
NOV 2018 PREMIER LEAGUE Tottenham 3-1 Chelsea
APR 2018 PREMIER LEAGUE Chelsea 1-3 Tottenham
AUG 2017 PREMIER LEAGUE Tottenham 1-2 Chelsea
APR 2017 FA CUP Chelsea 4-2 Tottenham
JAN 2017 PREMIER LEAGUE Tottenham 2-0 Chelsea
NOV 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham
MAY 2016 PREMIER LEAGUE Chelsea 2-2 Tottenham
NOV 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE Tottenham 0-0 Chelsea
MAR 2015 CAPITAL ONE CUP Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham

Tottenham in their current form are a step up on all of those and it was worrying just how much Chelsea lacked tempo and creativity against the Cherries. Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount have hit a wall in recent weeks after a hot streak and Lampard needs the best from then sooner rather than later to assist Willian and Mateo Kovacic, with Eden Hazard’s absence perhaps felt much more keenly than earlier in the season.

Chelsea will get their chances to find the net today – in seven games under Jose Mourinho Spurs have scored 19 goals and conceded 12, managing just a single clean sheet – but the hosts, who have their confidence back, seem a good fit for the new boss and could have success in the midfield battle with the grinding nature of Eric Dier and Mo Sissoko and the hosts appear to have the edge in attack on recent form even with Antonio Rudiger improving the away defence.

Tottenham had to pull out all the stops to steal victory at Wolves last week but any return from Molineux is a precious one and Moura’s late winning goal shows the resolve and quality they have at their disposals. Chelsea, who have lost eight of their last ten away games against last season’s top six, could find themselves coming to Spurs at the wrong time.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)
BACK Tottenham 5 pts at 7/5 with
BACK Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea 1 pt at 17/2 with

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