da pinup bet： Tottenham Hotspur are currently in the unenviable position of needing to beat Chelsea in the Premier League to stay on track.
da imperador bet： Spurs travel to Stamford Bridge to face the Premier League leaders who have won six straight games and are in imperious form, which is our Fixture In Focus this weekend.
Since switching to a 3-4-3 formation, Antonio Conte’s side have seen off all opponents without conceding a single goal, scoring 17 of their own.
Mauricio Pochettino’s boys have had less to shout about, however, having drawn four straight games before a somewhat lucky late 3-2 win against, West Ham courtesy of two goals from Harry Kane.
The north London side were also dumped out of the Champions League after a limp 2-1 loss at Monaco.
‘Poch’ has a defensive dilemma on his hands with Toby Alderweireld and Ben Davies out injured and Danny Rose suspended, leaving them with no recognised left-back.
The Argentine may have to do something a bit different to even hope for a decent result, and here is the XI we’d play.
GK – HUGO LLORIS
One man who can take none of the blame for Tottenham’s current malaise is Hugo Lloris.
The Frenchman was on top form against Monaco in the week, making nine saves including stopping Radamel Falcao’s penalty.
Lloris is sure to start between the sticks as he is one of the most integral parts of Poch’s system. His speed off the line is important to the Spurs cause, as is his shot-stopping, and both will have to be sharp against the Blues.
RWB – KYLE WALKER
In a Spurs defence depleted by injuries and bans, Pochettino knows he at least has one defender he can rely on.
Kyle Walker was rested midweek and will play as a right wing-back in our formation.
Walker looked threatening in this position against Arsenal and has played well there all season, although he will have to keep an eye on Marcos Alonso and help his centre-backs deal with the in-form Eden Hazard.
CB – ERIC DIER
Eric Dier and Kevin Wimmer didn’t look too solid against Monaco midweek, with a lot of Spurs fans wondering why Jan Vertonghen didn’t play.
While ‘Poch’ should undoubtedly have played his best XI against the French side, you can see the logic of playing the two together knowing he would be without Danny Rose on the weekend.
The experiment didn’t work, however, so we’d suggest playing a three-man backline to compensate for any weaknesses and deal with Chelsea’s attacking trident.
CB – KEVIN WIMMER
While Kevin Wimmer looked solid in the absence of Jan Vertonghen last season, he has looked anything but this campaign.
The Austrian looked short of fitness and scored an own goal in the North London derby and didn’t have the best of times in Europe.
Perhaps Wimmer looked better with an in-form Toby Alderweireld next to him. We’d have him in the middle of the three with the aim of winning headers and getting the ball away.
CB – JAN VERTONGHEN
The final of our three defenders is Jan Vertonghen.
The Belgian is the only other defensive regular in the side and will have to shoulder some extra responsibility this weekend.
Vertonghen will not only have the likes of Diego Costa, Pedro and Eden Hazard to keep an eye on, but also the raiding runs of Victor Moses.
Luckily the 29-year-old is mobile enough to get around but he will have to be at his best.
LWB – KEVIN N’KOUDOU
Not much is known about Kevin N’Koudou going into this game.
The Frenchman has only seen 12 minutes of Premier League action so far and has only started one game in the EFL Cup.
But Spurs are desperately short of left-sided players in this game, meaning Pochettino may have to turn to the rapid Frenchman.
N’Koudou will be an unknown quantity for Antonio Conte and with few people testing Victor Moses’ defensive capabilities, the 21-year-old’s direct running could cause problems.
CM – VICTOR WANYAMA
Victor Wanyama has really applied himself in the first-team since his move from Southampton in the summer.
The Kenyan was seen as cover for Eric Dier when he arrived, but has instead started all twelve league games so far and looked relatively solid.
According to Whoscored, Wanyama has averaged 2.4 tackles-per-game and 2.3 headers this season and you’d expect that figure to rise as he prepares to do battle with N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic in the middle of the pitch.
CM – MOUSA DEMBELE
Mousa Dembele is one of the most underrated players in the Premier League.
The athletic Belgian is adored by the White Hart Lane faithful who admire his work rate and tenacity in the middle of the park.
Dembele’s average of 2.7 tackles-per-game is only beaten by Danny Rose (as per Whoscored). He and Wanyama in the middle should hopefully provide enough defensive grit to stifle Chelsea’s midfield.
CAM – DELE ALLI
The lack of Christian Eriksen in this line-up is likely to cause a stir among Spurs fans – especially considering he was probably rested midweek.
But the Dane tends to go missing in big games, with this table from Sky Sports showing he provides the least contribution to goals of any playmaker from ‘the big six’.
Dele Alli, on the other hand, is more dynamic and a bigger goal threat and therefore much more likely to cause problems for a Chelsea back-three that has yet to be shaken.
ST – SON HEUNG-MIN
It remains to be seen whether Pochettino will try something different or stick with his usual 4-2-3-1, but we feel he needs to get as many attacking players in the mix as possible.
Harry Kane’s threat would likely be nullified by a back three and we, therefore, feel he needs someone else to hold the attention of the Blues’ defence.
The South Korean worked hard despite not being at his best against Monaco. If he can produce a similar performance to the one he managed earlier in the season against Manchester City, Tottenham may just have a chance.
ST – HARRY KANE
Despite their underwhelming form of late, Tottenham fans will at least be relieved to have their talismanic striker back in the side.
Harry Kane has scored four goals in three games since returning from an ankle injury and has already earned them four Premier League points from games against Arsenal and West Ham.
Spurs fans will fondly remember when he scored twice and assisted another against Chelsea on New Year’s Day. Kane is in red-hot form and another performance like that isn’t out of the question.