Chelsea vs Tottenham Preview: Probable Lineups, Prediction, Tactics, Team News & Key Stats

Chelsea will face their first big test of the 2022/23 season when they play hosts to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday.

Chelsea will go face to face with local rivals and fellow title hopefuls Tottenham Hotspur in Matchweek 2 of the 2022/23 Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening.

Chelsea began their 2022/23 Premier League campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Everton away at Goodison Park. The performance was far from convincing, with the lack of goals being a concern for Thomas Tuchel. And the German tactician needs to find a way to address that issue at the earliest if the Blues are to fare better than they did the last term in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Tottenham began their campaign with a bang, thrashing Southampton 4-1 at home. What will be encouraging for Antonio Conte is neither of his star attackers, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, scored in the opener, but the team found other players to pick up the goalscoring duties.

A victory for either team in this high-profile encounter would send out an early message about their title credentials to the rest of their rivals. Chelsea have won each of their last four matches against Tottenham in all competitions and will hope to carry that streak forward, while the Lilywhites will be eager to break that run at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Team News & Tactics

Chelsea

Chelsea have been handed a fresh injury blow as Mateo Kovacic is ruled out with knee discomfort. Apart from him, Marcos Alonso will also miss out as he tries to finalise his transfer to Barcelona. Thomas Tuchel has no other injury concerns ahead of Tottenham’s visit and will look to field the strongest possible lineup for this crucial encounter.

The German tactician is unlikely to make any changes to his team formation-wise or personnel-wise on Sunday evening. Edouard Mendy will continue the guard the Chelsea goal as usual, with the rest of the team set up in a 3-4-2-1 formation in front of him.

Captain Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and new signing Kalidou Koulibaly, who impressed on his debut against Everton, will form the three-man defensive unit for the home team, while Reece James and Ben Chilwell are expected to take up the wing-back slots on the right and left sides, respectively. New arrival Marc Cucurella could get some minutes off the bench.

N’Golo Kante and Jorginho, who scored the only goal of the game against Everton last weekend, will form the double pivot in the centre of the park. With no Kovacic to call upon, youngsters like Conor Gallagher and Carney Chukwuemeka might get a chance from the bench at some stage.

The attacking impetus will come from Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling, who will slot in as the attacking midfielders, while Mason Mount spearheads what will be a fluid and dynamic frontline with the players encouraged to switch positions to cause problems to the opposition.

Probable Lineup (3-4-2-1): Mendy; Azpilicueta, Silva, Koulibaly; James, Kante, Jorginho, Chilwell; Mount, Sterling; Havertz

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham also have a new injury issue to contend with as Clement Lenglet is set to miss out due to a thigh problem. Oliver Skipp is also ruled out due to an ankle injury. But Spurs have been handed a boost as new signing Richarlison is available for selection and could make his debut, after missing the season opener due to suspension.

Conte will set his team up in a similar shape to that of Chelsea, with a slight variation in the frontline. Hugo Lloris will be lining up between the sticks and will be shielded by the three-man defensive unit of Cristian Romero, Eric Dier and Ben Davies as usual. Emerson Royal and Ryan Sessegnon will line up as the two wing-backs and will be in for an interesting duel against their Chelsea counterparts on Sunday.

Yves Bissouma made his debut for Tottenham coming on from the bench last time out against Southampton. And the new signing could again have to make do with a spot amongst the substitutes as Conte is likely to prefer the partnership of Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg that has served Tottenham well since the former’s arrival in January.

The attacking line pretty much picks itself as Dejan Kulusevski, who was crucial in the win against Southampton, and Son Heung-min lining up out wide and looking to stretch the Chelsea backline with their pace and movement. Harry Kane will line up as the centre-forward but will drop deep now and then to get on the ball and set off the wide players on counters. Richarlison could make his debut for Tottenham, but only as a substitute.

Probable Lineup (3-4-3): Lloris; Romero, Dier, Davies; Emerson, Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Sessegnon; Kulusevski, Kane, Son

Key Stats

• Tottenham have won only seven of their 60 Premier League encounters against Chelsea (D20, L33). 
• Chelsea have failed to win their opening Premier League home fixture in four of the past seven seasons (W3, D2, L2).
• Tottenham have won 99 London derby matches in the Premier League so far and could become the third club to reach the 100-mark, following in the footsteps of Chelsea and Arsenal.
• Chelsea collected more points on the road (40) than they did at Stamford Bridge (34) in the Premier League last season.
• Tottenham only managed to pick up one point in their five away London derbies last season, finding the back of the net just once.

Player to Watch

Harry Kane

The main man for Tottenham endured a quiet start to the season against Southampton last week, as the infamous “August curse” looks to continue haunting him. While Spurs showed that they can still produce the goods without Harry Kane firing on all cylinders, they need him at his best if they are to emerge as genuine contenders for the Premier League title.

And a strong performance against one of their potential rivals in the title race this early in the season could set the tone for a big season for the England captain. Kane needs two goals to break Sergio Aguero’s record of most Premier League goals for a single club ( 184 for Manchester City), and he will be eager to topple that record on Sunday. 

Prediction

Chelsea 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea enjoyed the rub of the green against Tottenham last season, beating them in four matches in all competitions. However, heading into Sunday’s game, the Blues are yet to sort out the kinks in the system, whereas the Lilywhites seem like a much more well-oiled unit. It promises to be a closely fought encounter at Stamford Bridge, but Antonio Conte’s men could pull off a huge win in what could be a six-pointer early into the season.