Almost a decade on from the infamous 'Battle of the Bridge' encounter, London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur return to Stamford Bridge to lock horns in the Premier League on Thursday night.
These two teams were involved in an enthralling seven-goal thriller in North London almost four months ago when Chelsea came out on top by a 4-3 scoreline.
Match preview
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Chelsea's four-game winning run across all competitions was brought to an end before the international break as Tottenham's North London rivals Arsenal beat the Blues 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium on March 16.
Mikel Merino's first-half header condemned Chelsea to their third Premier League defeat in five matches and Enzo Maresca's side have now slipped to sixth in the table, two points behind Manchester City in fourth and one point behind Newcastle United in fifth following wins for both clubs on Wednesday, while Brentford down in 11th are only eight points behind the Blues who have nine games still left to play.
Chelsea, who are seeking to avoid a third successive campaign finishing outside the Premier League's top five, still have plenty of work to do in the hotly-contested battle to secure Champions League football for next season and are now preparing for three top-flight fixtures against bottom-half opposition, as well as their two-legged Conference League quarter-final tie with Legia Warsaw later this month.
The West Londoners will welcome a return to Stamford Bridge where they have won each of their last four Premier League games, keeping a clean sheet in their last two against Southampton (4-0) and Leicester (1-0) - only once in the last five seasons have Chelsea won three home matches in a row without conceding, doing so from April to May 2024 in a run that included a 2-0 win over Spurs.
Chelsea will fancy their chances of success on Thursday, as they have won more PL games (36) and scored more PL goals (120) against Tottenham than they have versus any other opponent. In fact, only three teams have scored more goals against a side in the division than the 120 Chelsea have netted against Spurs (Arsenal vs. Everton, Manchester United vs. Everton, Liverpool vs. Newcastle - all 124).
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Like Chelsea, Tottenham were unable to claim maximum points in their final game before the international break and instead suffered their 15th Premier League defeat of the season at the hands of Fulham.
Second-half strikes from Rodrigo Muniz and ex-Spurs man Ryan Sessegnon condemned the Lilywhites to a 2-0 defeat at Craven Cottage, leaving them languishing in 14th place in the Premier League table and 10 points behind the top half.
Europa League glory is seemingly the only saving grace for Ange Postecoglou, whose Tottenham future has come under the microscope once again following an "unacceptable" loss at Fulham. He is now facing unwanted history, as defeat at Chelsea on Thursday would see the Greek-Australian become the first-ever Spurs manager to lose his first four league meetings against the Blues.
No team has earned fewer Premier League points in London derbies this season than Tottenham (10, level with Brentford), who have lost five out of nine such matches (W3 D1). Only in 1987-88, 1989-90, 2003-04 (all six) and 2004-05 (seven) have Spurs ever suffered more London derby defeats in a league campaign.
Tottenham are bidding to win their first game at Stamford Bridge since a 3-1 success in April 2018, but they head into Thursday's contest having lost eight of their 14 top-flight away matches this term, with only Leicester (11) and Southampton (12) having lost more - not since 2008-09 have the Lilywhites suffered more away defeats in a single league season (11).
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Chelsea trio Mykhaylo Mudryk (suspended), Marc Guiu and Omari Kellyman (both hamstring) all remain unavailable for selection, and injury-plagued Romeo Lavia (unspecified) has emerged as a major doubt, but Maresca has confirmed that Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke are all in contention to face Spurs and have taken part in training after injury setbacks.
The return of both Palmer and Jackson could see Pedro Neto move from a makeshift central role over to the right flank, while Jadon Sancho and Christopher Nkunku may battle for a start on the left side of attack.
Reece James played in midfield against Arsenal, but he could revert to right-back with Wesley Fofana potentially moved across into the heart of the defence alongside Levi Colwill, while Maresca will decide whether to stick with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, who has started three of Chelsea's last four games in all competitions, or recall Filip Jorgensen between the sticks.
As for Tottenham, Radu Dragusin (ACL), Dejan Kulusevski (foot), Kevin Danso (hamstring) and Richarlison (calf) all remain sidelined with injuries, but Postecoglou has confirmed that Lucas Bergvall is fit to face Chelsea after recovering from a bout of illness that forced him to withdraw from the Sweden squad during the international break.
In the absence of Danso, Cristian Romero could link arms with Micky van de Ven at centre-back for the first time in a PL game since the reverse fixture against Chelsea in December, while Postecoglou will weigh up whether to start in-form Djed Spence ahead of either Pedro Porro or Destiny Udogie at right-back or left-back respectively.
Captain Son Heung-min has started as a substitute in each of the last three Premier League games, but the South Korean could be recalled to start on the left flank at the expense of Mathys Tel, while James Maddison, Pape Matar Sarr and Wilson Odobert will also be pushing for a return to the first XI.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; James, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Sarr, Bentancur, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Son
We say: Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Clashes between Chelsea and Spurs tend to be filled with drama and entertainment, but whether we will see another goal-fest in this one between two inconsistent teams, just as determined not to lose as they are to win, remains to be seen as both sides have lacked a cutting edge in front of goal in recent matches.
There is no doubt that the hosts will be regarded as favourites considering Spurs' dire record at Stamford Bridge - winning just one of their last 39 away league visits over the past 35 years - and if Palmer and Jackson are to return for the Blues, then they should have enough to collect three valuable points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
