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Tottenham Hotspur make the 11-mile trip across London to face Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
Spurs have collected 13 points from their 30 Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge in the Premier League era, winning just once. Aside from Blackpool and Swindon – who they faced only once on the road – Chelsea have comfortably been Tottenham’s toughest opponents away from home (averaging just 0.4 points per away game).
Here’s the XI Antonio Conte, who was Chelsea manager for that sole Tottenham win, may field this coming weekend.
GK: Hugo Lloris – Distribution hasn’t always been Lloris’ strong suit in a Spurs shirt but the French number one misplaced just a single pass against Southampton last weekend.
CB: Cristian Romero – Described as a “Viking” by his teammate Eric Dier, who helped integrate the Argentine into the team last season with his fluent Spanish.
CB: Eric Dier – After finding the net against Southampton, Dier has the chance to score in consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since August 2014.
CB: Ben Davies – As a former A-level maths student, Davies will be abundantly aware that three doesn’t go into one. Yet, based on his opening day selection, the Welshman is above Clement Lenglet and Davinson Sanchez in Tottenham’s centre-back pecking order.
RWB: Emerson Royal – The buccaneering, if at times bumbling, wingback not only has competition from Matt Doherty this season but will also have to fend off summer arrival Djed Spence.
CM: Pierre Hojbjerg – The combative Dane has been beaten by Chelsea more often than any other club in his senior career (losing 11 of 14 meetings).
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – When he first arrived in Europe, Bentancur put on 11lb of muscle to adapt to Serie A. When he joined Spurs midway through last season, Bentancur brought the same personal fitness coach – ‘uncle Daniel’ – to London to smooth the transition.
LWB: Ryan Sessegnon – Two months separated Sessegnon’s first pair of Premier League goals but he had to wait three and a half years for his next strike in the competition, which he plundered last weekend.
RW: Dejan Kulusevski – The slippery Swede was integral to Tottenham’s 4-1 romp against Southampton as Spurs scored two or more goals without Kane or Son on the scoresheet for the first time since November 2021.
ST: Harry Kane – Despite a stellar record against London opposition generally (racking up 41 Premier League goals), Kane hasn’t found the net in his last eight outings against Chelsea across all competitions.
LW: Son Heung-min – Even though he drew a blank last weekend, Son has still scored 12 goals in his last 11 Premier League appearances.
Subs: Forster, Sanchez, Lenglet, Spence, Doherty, Bissouma, Perisic, Gil, Moura
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