This weekend’s big Premier League matchup has midtable Tottenham Hotspur hosting Chelsea who are now up in second after overtaking Arsenal on goal difference. The Blues are still seven points behind the EPL leaders Liverpool but Enzo Maresca’s men thumped Southampton 5-1 in midweek while Spurs dropped down to 10th after Ange Postecoglou’s men went down 1-0 to Bournemouth. Tottenham thrashed Manchester City on the road very recently but remain inconsistent while Chelsea will hope to stay where they are and maintain their impressive current momentum. Postecoglou needs his troops to respond to their midweek setback and make the most of an opportunity to gain ground on the eight-team UEFA competition chasing pack which is only separated by three points for now.
We take a closer look.
Chelsea’s impressive turnaround
The Blues are second in the Premier League and seven points adrift of Liverpool at present so we are not quite talking about title-challenge territory — at least not just yet. To be honest, given their star-studded squad, it was a matter of time before things started to go right at Stamford Bridge and it has taken a hardline stance from Maresca regarding the bloated group to finally make sense of its potential given so many quality pieces. Now six points inside the European shakeup and eight points clear of this weekend’s opponents Spurs, five wins from six games across all competitions makes Chelsea one of English and European soccer’s form sides. Three of six EPL games have been wins and three consecutive successes have boosted them while positional rivals have hit patches of bumpy form.
How to watch
- Date: Sunday, December 8 | Time: 11:30 a.m. ET
- Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – London, England
- TV: USA Network and Telemundo | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free)
- Odds: Tottenham +220; Draw +290; Chelsea +105
Spurs’ infuriating inconsistency
With just one win from the last six games across all competitions, Tottenham are doing that thing they do so well once again. That victory was a thrashing of Manchester City at Etihad Stadium which admittedly came at a bad moment for Pep Guardiola’s men but still took some doing by Postecoglou and his players. They pulled it off not once but twice, also seeing the Citizens off in the EFL Cup with wins over Aston Villa and Manchester United also under their belts. Home form is worrying for Spurs with two draws and a defeat since beating Unai Emery’s Villans convincingly and impressive results on the road have both come in Manchester against City and United. However, on home turf, Arsenal and Ipswich Town have both won and the Lilywhites need to avoid that same trap as this is a golden chance to get closer to the European race.
Prolific pairing
When you combine the two, this is half of the four most prolific sides in the Premier League right now. Between them, they have 59 goals with 31 of those Chelsea’s as part of the EPL-leading tally which is only three better than Spurs’ 28-goal haul. Flip it towards the defense and it is also interesting with both teams level on 15 goals conceded each which is only better by Liverpool and Arsenal but also makes up the Premier League’s top four tightest back lines. So far, Chelsea’s ranking backs up that statistical dominance but Tottenham are positionally off the pace — we will see if that changes this Sunday.
