Thu 23 February 2023, 17:30
Tottenham HotspurWe are back at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this Sunday as we take on London rivals Chelsea in the Premier League (kick-off 1.30pm UK).
Here's a look at all the game's key points of note...
1 - Last league meeting
We ended a run of five successive defeats against Chelsea last time out with a late, late Harry Kane goal seeing us salvage a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in August.
In a game where we it took us a while to get going, Kalidou Koulibaly’s 19th-minute volley had given the Blues the lead but Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg got us back on terms with a low-drilled strike from the edge of the area. Frustratingly, the Blues did retake the lead against the run of play through Reece James on 77 minutes yet, in the final seconds of the match, we found a leveller with Harry nodding home right in front of a jubilant away end to see us take a point.
Highlights | Chelsea 2-2 Spurs | August, 2022
2 - Three is the magic number
Despite our fairly inconsistent performances in February, we have won three of our last four league games (1-0 vs Fulham, 1-0 vs Manchester City and 2-0 vs West Ham), as many as we had registered across our previous 10 combined (W3 D1 L6).
We are also seeking our third consecutive win and clean sheet at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time since April, 2019.
Highlights | Spurs 2-0 West Ham | February, 2023
3 - Unwanted home record
However, despite our recent strong home record, it is worth nothing that, since moving to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2019, we have lost all three league games against Chelsea at N17. This is new territory for us as before the move we had only lost two of our previous 13 at home against the Blues (W6 D5). Our last home win came in November, 2018, where goals from Dele Alli, Harry and Heung-Min Son secured a superb 3-1 victory at Wembley Stadium.
Highlights | Spurs 3-1 Chelsea | November, 2018
4 - Our number nine
Richarlison seemingly enjoys starting against Chelsea as he has quite the record when it comes to facing the Blues. A player who has endured a mixed campaign for us thus far since his move from Everton in the summer, and who returned to our starting XI for the first time since December in last Sunday’s 2-0 win over West Ham, the Brazilian has three goals in six league starts against Chelsea, all coming during his stint with the Toffees.
Our number nine started on the bench in our last meeting against the Blues and was introduced after 57 minutes as we chased the game at 1-0 down before it ended 2-2 thanks to Harry’s dramatic equaliser.
Watch - Richarlison's season so far
5 - Dominant Chelsea
The Blues are unbeaten in eight Premier League meetings in this fixture (W6 D2) and, if they were to win on Sunday, would become only the third team to win four consecutive away league games against us after Arsenal (four between 1952-55) and Manchester United (six between 2001-07).
6 - Away day Blues
Despite their dominance in this fixture in recent years, Chelsea have struggled for away form this season and are winless in their last seven league games on the road (D4 L3). The goals have been hard to come by for Graham Potter’s side too, with just four goals in their last seven away games this campaign - no team has scored fewer since the start of November, 2022 (six goals in 11 league games).
7 – Sterling record
Following his summer move to Chelsea from Manchester City, Raheem Sterling could pose a threat on Sunday and will fancy his chances playing in the capital with three of his six league goals against us coming in London, two at White Hart Lane and one at Wembley. However, he hasn’t scored against us in London in almost five years, with his last such goal coming in April, 2018.
