Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur go head-to-head at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of their mouth-watering English League Cup semi-final tie.

With only three matches standing between Thomas Tuchel and his third piece of silverware as Chelsea manager, the ‘Blues’ take on a side they have shut out in their last three Premier League H2Hs (W2, D1), including a 3-0 thumping earlier this season. Despite lacking marquee summer signing Romelu Lukaku (coach’s decision), Chelsea fought back from a 2-0 deficit to hold Liverpool to a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in their opening game of 2022, extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to eight (W3, D5). Though they’ve gone undefeated in 11 competitive home fixtures (W5, D6 – 90 mins only) since a 1-0 loss to Manchester City in September, each of Chelsea’s last three outings at Stamford Bridge has ended level, with two of them seeing Tuchel’s side pegged back beyond the 70th minute.

In the meantime, Davinson Sanchez’s 96th-minute header fired Tottenham Hotspur to a precious 1-0 win at Watford to paint the start of the new calendar year with flying colors. Since Antonio Conte’s arrival at the helm in November, ‘Spurs’ are unbeaten in all nine domestic fixtures (W6, D3), keeping their opposition at bay in four of those six victories. Additionally, the abovementioned triumph at Vicarage Road marked Tottenham’s first competitive away win under Conte’s reign, with the Londoners going winless in their previous three road trips (D2, L1). However, it’s worth noting that a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal continues to torment ‘Spurs’ away from home, as they’ve now scored under 1.5 goals in their last seven travels on the trot.