Chelsea v Spurs: Where will this game be won and lost?

Lets take a deep dive into the battles, tactics and areas where the result of this match will be decided......

Good afternoon Ladies and gents,

Today I am going to be delving a little deeper in to tonight’s game and where I think this game could be won and/or lost.

The midfield:

I probably sound like a broken record here, but the midfield battle is crucial in any game of football and tonight’s will be no different. Both of these sides performance will hinge on how their respective midfield’s fare against their opposition.

It is likely to be Bissouma, Sarr & Maddison v Caicedo, Enzo & Gallagher which on paper is pretty tasty and probably just edges in our favour on names alone. BUT Spurs’ midfield (unfortunately) have been excellent so far this season and getting the better of them will not be easy.

We need to look after the ball to the best of our (very high) ability, we need to break lines and exploit the space that is left when Spurs’ full back invert. When the Spurs full back invert it pushes Sarr and Maddison to very advanced positions. There will be moments in the match where Udogie and Porro will be inverted in to centre midfield and their respective midfielder will be advanced up the pitch, we need to turn over the ball as high as we can and exploit any space left by their positioning, especially behind Porro.

Bissouma is an excellent ball player, but does have a mistake in his locker, as well as a head-loss moment, Gallagher needs to harass him constantly, not give him a second and maybe leave a couple of slightly late challenges there to turn this into a bit of a war, which with TWO South Americans I would fully back us to come out on top.

Space:

I have already touched on this above, exploiting areas and gaps in a quick fashion will be one of our best routes to the Spurs goal, they do have some excellent recovery pace with the likes of Van De Ven, but we have Mudryk, Sterling etc to counteract that.

Spurs generally play a high line to entice opposition teams to get in behind them, they then recover the ball with pace. I would predict that Spurs may drop their standard high line ever so slightly deeper tonight, IF Mudryk and Sterling start as our wingers (especially Mudryk).

This should open up some space/gaps between the defensive and midfield lines, but also in the corridors between full-back and centre back. The corridor between a centre back and a full back is always an excellent route if there is space, and when you have players like Enzo Fernandez he will flourish with that type of space IF Spurs afford that to us.

Ruthlessness:

Something Chelsea aren’t and something we need to be and quick, I can’t see this being a game with lots of chances unless it opens up early and turns into a war. I think it will be a fairly cagey game with both teams looking desperate for a win for different reasons.

We need to be ruthless and clinical in front of goal, every chance needs to be taken, we also need to be ruthless with our defending, do not afford any easy chances, keep the defence tight without being too defensive minded and play with a confidence to come out from the back like we usually do.

My lineup:

I think realistically Thiago Silva will be playing, probably ahead of Badiashile, but maybe Cucurella with Levi at Left-back. The reason I have picked Benoit is his pace over Thiago’s, with Son down the middle and Richarlison probably coming in from the left, I think Benoit adds a bit of balance to the XI.

I also think we have to play with pacey wingers in this game as I mentioned above, which means Cole Palmer gets a role in the centre as he did v Arsenal. For me Cole would be slightly more advanced than against Arsenal and Gallagher will play more like an 8, but I would add a natural bit of rotation between Cole and Raheem with Raz making runs across and down behind their centre halves and Cole pulling out to the right to dictate play.

I think Poch may go with Sterling, Palmer & Jackson front 3.

I hope you all enjoyed this article, see you tomorrow for our loan army round up!

Luke Rushbrook