Tottenham v Chelsea: Blues to miss out on historic victory

"Tottenham are unbeaten at home in the league, they played pretty well against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and they are on a roll."

Back Tottenham Draw No Bet at 1.96

Tottenham v Chelsea
Wednesday January 04, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports 1

Tottenham

It's been a tumultuous season for Tottenham, but there is still a deep-rooted conviction that coach Mauricio Pochettino is pulling a young side in the right direction. A disastrous Champions League campaign will sting for a while, but Spurs are in the thick of the race for the top four, and a win against Chelsea on Wednesday night would move them to within seven points of top spot.

Spurs have won their last four games in the Premier League, and they waltzed past Watford in their most recent outing, winning 4-1 without moving past third gear. The Lilywhites have lost just twice in 19 league games this term, they have only conceded 14 goals, and they are unbeaten at White Hart Lane.

As the recent Champions League debacles at Wembley have shown, Spurs are very strong at White Hart Lane, where a passionate crowd can really make its presence felt. Tottenham have lost just five of their last 41 PL home games, and this term they have only dropped points against Leicester and Liverpool.

Spurs are boosted by the return of defenders Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen from suspension, and both should start, although Kieran Trippier has made a strong case to keep his spot at right-back. Erik Lamela is the only major injury concern - the Argentinian has a hip problem.

Chelsea

Antonio Conte's Chelsea are poised to make history at White Hart Lane. A victory would extend their Premier League winning streak to 14 matches, and no team has ever racked up 14 straight PL wins in a single season. Arsenal managed 14 wins over two campaigns.

Although Chelsea were far from perfect in their 4-2 win over Stoke on New Year's Eve, their ability to tear teams to shreds on the counter-attack was once again on show. Willian took both of his goals superbly, Eden Hazard buzzed around menacingly, and Diego Costa rammed in his 14th Premier League goal of the campaign. Cesc Fabregas continued his revival in midfield with a brace of assists, which means he has now set up 100 goals in England's top flight.

There were some frailties on show against the Potters, though. Chelsea have the best defensive record in the league, but they were twice undone by the unusual physical threat posed by Peter Crouch. Firstly, they failed to stop him heading the ball down for Bruno Martins Indi's equaliser, and then they allowed Crouch to net a second leveller from close range. Perfectionist Conte won't have been impressed.

The former Juve boss has a number of conundrums to solve ahead of the trip to White Hart Lane. Fabregas and Willian were excellent against Stoke, but are under pressure from Nemanja Matic and the returning Pedro. Club captain John Terry is still struggling with injury.

Match Odds

Spurs are slight favourites here, which may seem a bit strange given Chelsea's remarkable winning run. However, there is some justification for Tottenham to be favoured.

Firstly, they are unbeaten at home, and they raised their game superbly in a 2-0 win over Manchester City earlier this term. Also, Spurs played very well in the opening exchanges of the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge, taking the lead before conceding on both sides of the half-time break to lose 2-1.

If you look at Chelsea's away wins during their superb streak, the 3-1 win at Manchester City stands out, but none of their other five successes were against team in the current top nine. Having pretty much ended Tottenham's title push last season in a fractious game at Stamford Bridge, I think Chelsea are in for a rough ride from the fans and the pumped-up Tottenham players.

I'm happy to back the hosts Draw No Bet at 1.96.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals

The market is pretty much split here too, with Over 2.5 Goals the slight outsider at 2.04.
With two excellent defences on show, and an incredibly intense match on the cards, the temptation would be to go for a low-scoring game. However, it's worth bearing in mind that eight of the last 11 meetings between the sides have featured three goals or more, including four of the last six.

To Score

Much of the pre-match hype will focus on the main strikers for both sides, and rightly so. Harry Kane has scored 10 Premier League goals, including three in his last two appearances, and is attractively priced at 2.54 to find the net in 90 minutes.

Diego Costa has rattled in 14 goals in 18 league appearances this term, and has found the net in seven of his last nine league outings. He is 2.52 to score at White Hart Lane.

Recommended Bet
Back Tottenham Draw No Bet at 1.96