Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur 22/02/20

22 February 2020

Severely weakened by series of injuries, Tottenham Hotspur travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in an all-London Premier League (PL) matchup.

The hosts have suffered a dip in form recently, as they go into this encounter on a run of four consecutive PL games without a win (D2, L2). Curiously, both of their draws during that four-game sequence saw Chelsea make the breakthrough and struggle to hold the lead, while both of their losses in the same period witnessed the Blues fail to get on the scoresheet. Furthermore, Franck Lampard’s men have picked up just two wins in their last seven PL home fixtures (D1, L4), drawing a blank in all four defeats. In fact, they have returned just 43.9% (18) of their total 41 PL points at Stamford Bridge, recording only 16 of the 43 league goals scored here, too (37.21%). The ‘clean-sheet theme’ will be of the essence here, considering eight of their ten PL home results (win/loss) so far this season saw the winner on the day shut out the losing side.

Understrength Spurs lost 1-0 to Leipzig at home in their midweek’s Champions League showdown, which brought their seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions to a halt (W5, D2). Yet, the visitors have put together three consecutive league triumphs, scoring over 1.5 goals in each, although keeping a clean sheet only once. Jose Mourinho’s men can break into the PL top-four if they pull off a win here, as they sit just one point adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea. However, it will be a daunting prospect for Tottenham to do that, given that they’ve managed only one victory in 20 top-flight trips to Chelsea in the 21st century (D6, L13). What’s more, Spurs have lost three of four league away matches against the current top-seven sides (D1), with the lone exception of a 2-2 draw with Manchester City back in August.