ClapWe’re about to enter into the final few months of the Premier League campaign and before we get to the excitement of UEFA Euro 2020 and the Summer Olympics, there’s a whole lot of football left to be played.
One of the most intriguing battles is going to be the race for the top four – or, if Manchester City’s two-season European ban is upheld, the race for the top five.
Never too big for your boots?
Two teams that are right in the mix are none other than Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea with this weekend seeing the return of Jose Mourinho to Stamford Bridge to take on Frank Lampard’s Blues.
It’s safe to say that both of these teams have experienced their fair share of heartache throughout the course of the season so far as they attempt to navigate through life with a new manager. Both seem to be well positioned to qualify for the Champions League once again, but they’ve also both got other competitions to concern themselves with this season – including the UCL itself.
After a positive start to life as Chelsea boss it feels as if the wheels have slowly been falling off for Lampard in recent weeks with his team running out of steam a little bit. They still have a cushion that separates them with the rest of their rivals, but it’s certainly dwindled as time as gone on.
Tottenham, on the other hand, have endured a series of injury concerns to go right alongside Mourinho replacing the outgoing Mauricio Pochettino as manager.
Neither team can even come close to hoping for a title challenge as we all know, but the aim is almost certainly for them to plan ahead for that in the next few years.
Team News
N’Golo Kante is out for Chelsea due to an adductor injury he suffered against Manchester United recently, whereas Tammy Abraham, Andreas Christensen, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic are all considered to be doubts for this game.
Tottenham’s Erik Lamela and Tanguy Ndombele are both expected to feature in some way, shape or form after returning from injury with Mourinho having something of a selection headache due to the absence of both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
In terms of our prediction, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Tottenham go to their London rivals and edge out a narrow win – as Mourinho has done on so many occasions in these big games.
It’s going to be a nervous affair and we aren’t expecting one of the games of the season by any stretch, which is why one goal should be enough to decide it.
Chelsea have just completely lost their heads since having such a strong start to the campaign and that was painfully obvious during the game against Manchester United.
While Tottenham have their issues they have a much more experienced manager with years on the job, and we do think that sort of thing can serve as the difference maker in a clash of such importance.
