Wembley Stadium hosts its first ever Premier League fixture this weekend as Tottenham Hotspur, officially the home side, take on Chelsea in a tasty London derby showdown.
The Lilywhites have to put their past hoodoo of playing at the national stadium to one side, as they look to get one over the only team that finished above them in the table last season.
Forget a lack of transfers during the off-season – the biggest factor holding Tottenham back this coming campaign is playing their home fixtures around 13 miles West at a ground that they have notoriously struggled to perform at in the past.
One of the Lilywhites’ more famous modern-day moments came at the 90,000-capacity venue in 2008 when beating Chelsea 2-1 in the EFL Cup final, but since then their record is close to atrocious, losing seven and winning just one of their last nine games there.
For three months last season, after tweaking formation to go with Antonio Conte’s favoured three at the back, Chelsea quite simply looked unstoppable as they brushed aside all comers.
Thirty-two goals were scored between October 1 and the end of the year, while four were shipped at the opposite end in a record-equalling 13-match winning run that essentially took them all the way to the title.
Team News-
Pochettino will be hoping to welcome Kieran Trippier back following the ankle problem he picked up in pre-season, ruling him out of the win over Newcastle and giving Kyle Walker-Peters a chance to impress – impress he did, too, being named sponsors’ Man of the Match.
Hazard may have to be risked even if half-fit, in fact, as Pedro is carrying a knock and Diego Costa is still AWOL, leaving Alvaro Morata and Michy Batshuayi to carry the weight.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris, Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Walker-Peters, Wanyama, Dembele, Davies; Alli, Eriksen; Kane
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger; Moses, Kante, Luiz, Alonso; Willian, Hazard; Morata
No comments:
Post a Comment