Premier League: More Capital Punishment for Spurs?

Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea

A week can be a long time in football. Just six days ago, Spurs stood proudly at the top of the league and then they were whacked by the Eagles!

Meanwhile, Chelsea swept Aston Villa aside to go joint top, and now the two London giants come face-to-face on Sunday.

Only one point separates the top seven places in the Premier League with four teams, including Chelsea, on 10 points and Tottenham at the bottom of three sides on nine.

So a home win could take Nuno’s Whites back to the summit. But this week, while Chelsea opened their Champions League defence with a victory over Zenit, Tottenham struggled to a Europa league draw in Rennes – picking up a couple of new injuries along the way.

While Tottenham started quickly this season, the very latest Premier League 2021 betting odds here at SBOTOP say that the Blues are the serious contenders to win the title, second favourites at odds of 3.50. And Thomas Tuchel’s side is odds on at 1.72 to win this match.

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Premier League

After winning their opening three league games under Nuno, Spurs came crashing back down to earth with a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace and the manner of the defeat was even more worrying than the scoreline.

The Whites were totally destroyed by a side expected to struggle this term as Palace enjoyed over 60-per cent possession and won the shot count 18 by two and four to one on target.

Tottenham top scorer Heung-Min Son has two goals, but he is out injured and Harry Kane is yet to score in the league this season.

Kane missed the opener against Manchester City at a time when he was rumoured to be packing his bags in readiness for a move to the Etihad, but that fell through and now he leads the line again for the club he has served so loyally.

With Son sidelined, Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura have been playing up front but both picked up knocks against Rennes and are doubtful for the big London derby and that might mean another start for the forgotten man Dele Alli.

At the back, Nuno has problems too, the sending off of Japhet Tanganga last week and the injury to Eric Dier means that the boss may have to rush a return for the South American duo of Cristian Romero and Davinson Sanchez – who have both been in quarantine.

Tottenham have hardly had the perfect preparation for the visit of Chelsea and their lethal weapon.

Chelsea’s frightening attack has gone off the scale

Premier League: Romelu Lukaku has now scored 4 goals in 4 games since returning to Chelsea — Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring their first goal vs Zenit St Petersburg

The summer signing of Romelu Lukaku could well be the final piece in Tuchel’s jigsaw. The return of the Belgian hit man to Stamford Bridge wrote all the Premier League 2021 news headlines in the summer until the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford.

He’s already scored three league goals and four in four games in all competitions, and his clinical double against Aston Villa last week sent shivers down the spines of many a Premier League defender.

Chelsea already had a star-studded attack, following the arrival of German duo Kai Havertz and Timo Werner in 2020 alongside Hakim Ziyech.

Adding those three to a team already blessed by the excellent Christian Pulisic lifted the Blues to the heights of European Champions. Throw Lukaku into the mix and this team could give Spurs fans nightmares.

There is never any shortage of ammunition for the front me with Mason Mount pulling the strings in midfield and always on the lookout for a killer pass, while England’s Reece James is already one of the best wing backs in the business – weighing in with a goal and two assists so far this season.

History

The Blues have had much the better of the head-to-head meetings in the Premier League era, winning 35 to Tottenham’s 10, while there have been 21 draws.

Last season, this fixture ended in a 1-0 win for Chelsea as a Jorginho penalty separated the two teams.

That victory was part of a run of four wins for Chelsea in the last five meetings and they have kept clean sheets in four of those games.

Tottenham have already beaten Manchester City and so Chelsea should be within reach, but the seven day form of a defeat and a draw for the hosts compared to the Blues’ back to back wins makes it a difficult task for Nuno’s men.

Tuchel is a master of away fixtures, losing just one of 15 matches on the road in all competitions since his arrival at Stamford Bridge last Christmas.