Tottenham Hotspur have lost each of their last six meetings with Chelsea in the Premier League, so Roberto De Zerbi will be desperate to break the record.
Roberto De Zerbi may raise a few eyebrows when he names his Tottenham Hotspur starting line-up to face Chelsea. While the Lilywhites are expected to welcome some key players into their matchday squad at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night, some big names will also be absent.
Speaking to reporters at the Sobha Realty Training Center on Friday afternoon, Tottenham boss Pedro Porro began by announcing his return. Andy Robertson, Omar Marmoush and Dominic Solanke will also be available for selection, De Zerbi confirmed.
However, the Italian ruled out Destiny Udogie and Lucas Bergvall before suggesting that James Maddison could also be in the running. As for Dejan Kulusevski, who made his long-awaited return in Monday night’s win over Coventry City, he has been training individually this week.
Discussing his headache in midfield, De Zerbi said: “The first three days Maddison didn’t work with us. I don’t know if he’s available for tomorrow. We can play him. [Matys] Tel, with Marmoush, with [Conor] Gallagher.
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He added: “As I have said many times, I don’t want to take risks because if you analyze this period of European football, you can see many, many injuries, not for Tottenham, but for everyone. Kulusevski did well, but he remained individual in the early days.”
So with that being said, journalists at football.london “Tottenham” has chosen the starting team to face “Chelsea”.
Alasdair Gold
It wouldn’t be a normal week at Tottenham without a host of injuries and doubts, and this week is no different.
Destiny Udogie remains sidelined and there are many other doubts, including James Maddison, who has been ruled out of training for days after his eye-catching first start in almost 18 months. If he is available, though, and the England international showed how important he is on Monday night, you’ll want him there.
You’d imagine De Zerbi would jump at the opportunity to bring Conor Gallagher back to his old club with his energy and the pressure that might be required. He may be useful with his ability to slot into the center of the pitch when the returning Pedro Porro steps forward.
De Zerbi could stay back three at Chelsea if he wants to miss out on Marcos Senesi, but he may prefer to use Micky van de Ven’s pace in the middle with the hosts’ varied forwards.
Much depends elsewhere on whether Andy Robertson and Omar Marmoush start again after coming off injured against Coventry.
Alasdair’s starting line-up to face Chelsea: Antonin Kinski, Pedro Porro, Jan Paul van Hecke, Miki van de Ven, Andy Robertson; Connor Gallagher, Sandro Tonali; Mohammed Kudus, James Maddison, Omar Marmoush; Dominic Solanke.
Jake Stokes
I think Roberto De Zerbi could make three changes to his starting line-up this weekend, starting with a couple of new faces in the back line. Speaking to reporters at Hotspur Way on Friday afternoon, the Italian confirmed that Pedro Porro and Andy Robertson will of course be available for selection; they will be GREAT additions!
In the middle of the park, unfortunately, James Maddison may be rested this week as he misses several training sessions. In an ideal world, the Lilywhites midfielder would retain his place in the starting line-up, but De Zerbi sounded like he wasn’t planning to gamble on his fitness, which is fair enough.
Maddison will be hard to replace, but the time has come for the Spurs boss to give Mateus Fernandes a chance. Looking up front, I can’t imagine De Zerbi changing much on Monday night with Mohammed Kudus, Omar Marmoush and Dominic Solanke.
Jake’s starting line-up to face Chelsea: Antonin Kinski, Pedro Porro, Jan Paul van Hecke, Miki van de Ven, Andy Robertson, Sandro Tonali, Archie Gray, Muhammad Kudus, Mateus Fernandes, Omar Marmus, Dominic Solanke.