Chelsea can sink Tottenham’s hopes of a top-four finish at Stamford Bridge this Thursday, exclusively live on talkSPORT.
The Blues are seeking a European place themselves and they can boost their own chances while damaging Spurs’ in the process.
Mauricio Pochettino comes up against his former club following a controversial 2-2 draw with Aston Villa that saw his side bounce back from two goals down.
Meanwhile, Ange Postecoglou won’t want to experience back-to-back London derby defeats after his side were beaten 3-2 by Arsenal on Sunday.
Chelsea vs Tottenham: Carried by Cole
Cole Palmer continues to be Chelsea’s star man this season and he has led the Blues’ turnaround in form that has seen them on the brink of a potential European place.
The only game Palmer has missed in recent weeks was a heavy defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates last week.
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But he returned for the draw with Aston Villa and is now close to equalling a stunning record held by Erling Haaland.
The former Man City man has scored a hat-trick in his last two Premier League home games against Man United and Everton.
The only other player to ever have scored three in a row was Erling Haaland last season.
Palmer has also netted seven times in seven games at Stamford Bridge which is already the longest streak by a Chelsea player ever in the top-flight.
- Only against Manchester United (39) have Tottenham lost more Premier League games than they have against Chelsea (34).
- Chelsea have lost just one of their last 33 home league games against Tottenham, going down 3-1 in April 2018 when Spurs were managed by Mauricio Pochettino.
Chelsea vs Tottenham: Team news
Chelsea have no fresh injury issues following their draw with Villa.
However, their list of absentees remains long with Ben Chilwell, Malo Gusto and Raheem Sterling the latest to join.
Reece James, Levi Colwill, Lesley Ugochukwu, Carney Chukwuemeka and Romeo Lavia are still ruled out while Enzo Fernandez is out for the remainder of the campaign.
As for Tottenham, Timo Werner picked up an injury in the first half against Arsenal in the north London derby.
He appeared to pick up a muscle issue and could now miss out this week, with Brennan Johnson expected to take his place.
Destiny Udogie has been ruled out for the rest of the season after surgery while Manor Solomon and Ryan Sessegnon remain out.
- After a run of just one win in 14 Premier League home games between March and November last year (D7 L6), Chelsea have now won seven of their last nine at Stamford Bridge (D1 L1). They’ve scored 29 goals in their last 10 home league games, as many as they had in their previous 27.
- Chelsea have done the Premier League double nine times against Tottenham, only doing so more against Manchester City (10). Meanwhile, Spurs have only lost twice in the same season more often against Manchester United (10) than they have against the Blues.
Chelsea vs Tottenham: What has been said?
Pochettino believes VAR has ‘damaged English football’ after Chelsea were denied a late winner against Aston Villa at the weekend.
Venting his frustration post-match, he said: “Everyone that was watching the game will feel disappointed.
“Two different things the referee said it was a foul and disallowed the goal and then going to the VAR to confirm.
“The referee is unbelievable and it’s ridiculous. It is difficult to accept, these type of things in the semi-final [FA Cup against Man City] two weeks ago it was handball and it was no penalty, the referee he didn’t check it.
“It is painful as it has damaged English football and I think Villa players and their fans didn’t understand why the goal was disallowed.
“They said it was foul and if you see the challenge what happened if we go into every single challenge like this it is going to be a foul and we wouldn’t finish the game with 11 [players].
“We can talk about the performance or the decision – it is damaging the game.”
- Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino could become the first manager to complete a Premier League double over Spurs having previously managed them in the competition.
- Tottenham have lost 4-0 against Newcastle and 3-2 against Arsenal in their last two Premier League games. They’ve not lost three in a row since November 2023, while they’ve not done so while conceding 3+ goals each time since September 2021 – both runs included defeat to Chelsea.
Chelsea vs Tottenham: talkSPORT coverage
This Premier League clash will take place on Thursday, May 2.
Kick-off at Stamford Bridge is scheduled for 7:30pm.
talkSPORT will have EXCLUSIVE live coverage of the game presented by Hugh Woozencroft.
Commentary will come from Sam Matterface and former Arsenal defender Martin Keown.