Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte will lock horns for the third time inside a month as Chelsea host Tottenham in the Premier League this weekend.
The Blues recently overcame Spurs in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, although their title bid suffered a serious blow as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Brighton in midweek.
Tottenham, meanwhile, extended their league unbeaten run under Conte with a frenetic 3-2 win over Leicester. Spurs trailed 2-1 heading into the fifth minute of stoppage time before a quick-fire brace from Steven Bergwijn snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for Tottenham.
Here’s everything you need to know about the London derby this weekend.
When is kick off? Sunday 23 January, 16:30 (GMT)
Where is it being played? Stamford Bridge
What TV channel is it on? Sky Sports Main Event (UK), fuboTV (US), DAZN (Canada)
Highlights? Sky Sports Football YouTube channel, BBC Match of the Day 2
Referee? Paul Tierney
VAR? Darren England
Christensen missed the defeat to Man City / Marc Atkins/GettyImages
Andreas Christensen will return for Chelsea after he previously tested positive for Covid-19 and missed the games against Manchester City and Brighton.
Kepa Arrizabalaga will continue between the posts in the absence of Edouard Mendy at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Trevoh Chalobah is still a doubt with a hamstring strain. Reece James is still a few weeks away from returning and Ben Chilwell is out with a season-ending knee injury.
You can read Chelsea’s predicted lineup here.
Tottenham will be without Son / Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/GettyImages
Spurs will be without Son Heung-min after he sustained a muscle injury in the Carabao Cup tie against Chelsea at the beginning of the month.
Cristian Romero and Eric Dier are both expected to miss out, although Tottenham welcomed Steven Bergwijn back into the squad to devastating effect for the midweek win over Leicester.
You can read Tottenham’s predicted lineup here.
Tottenham have not defeated Chelsea in normal time since Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs dumped the Blues out of the League Cup in January 2019.
Eleven meetings have passed since then and Chelsea rammed home their superiority over two legs when the sides met in the Carabao Cup earlier this month.
Tuchel’s men smothered Spurs in the home leg at Stamford Bridge before an Antonio Rudiger header sealed Chelsea’s progression to the final.
Chelsea flexed their muscles in dispatching Spurs over two legs in the Carabao Cup. That will offer Tuchel’s side confidence, and their strong home record against Tottenham should make it a difficult afternoon for Conte’s side.
All eyes will be on Romelu Lukaku and whether he can deliver in a big game, while Chelsea should generally be confident of their chances here.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham
