The Tottenham boss may have to repeat the Brighton & Hove Albion trick when they face Chelsea on Saturday.
Roberto De Zerbi will be hoping his Tottenham Hotspur side can start after their first win of the season over Coventry City on Monday night.
The 3-1 win, which saw James Maddison, Omar Marmoush and Ben Davies on the scoresheet, lifted Tottenham up to 16th in the Premier League and will give everyone in the squad a boost. The return of Dejan Kulusevski, plus an impressive performance from Maddison, were real highlights and De Zerbi urged his players to continue to improve.
“Hopefully we can play with this attitude, with this mentality, with this togetherness and at the same time improve, improve confidence, improve everything we need to,” De Zerbi said after the win with Frank Lampard’s side.
“We have to play better, because we can play better. I think other games, even with different opponents, it would be easier as a tactical game. But for sure now we have to move forward in this way.”
Before the next international break in November, Tottenham face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday (October 24), Crystal Palace in north London on October 31 and Leeds United at Elland Road on November 7. This could be a crucial game block if De Zerbi is to return to Spurs’ season.
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However, Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea team will be the real test. The Blues are currently fourth in the league and go into the clash having won 2-0 at Everton. They have won 4 out of 7 league games so far this season, scoring 17 goals, although conceding 13.
With the likes of Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro on display, De Zerbi will know how tough Saturday will be. Tottenham’s record at Stamford Bridge doesn’t make good reading either.
In fact, Tottenham last won at Chelsea’s home ground in April 2018. Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli (two) were on the scoresheet in Mauricio Pochettino’s big win over Antonio Conte that day.
Since that day more than eight years ago, Tottenham have failed to win any of their 10 visits to Stamford Bridge. The Lilywhites have lost their last six Premier League games against Chelsea and haven’t left Stamford Bridge with a point since a 2-2 draw in August 2022.
De Zerbi has already faced Chelsea six times in his career (five against Brighton and once against Tottenham last season) and boasts a record of two wins and four losses. While the record doesn’t make for sensational reading, the Italian at least knows how to beat the Blues at Stamford Bridge, as goals from Danny Welbeck and Julio Enciso secured a 2-1 victory against Brighton in April 2023.
In addition, Tottenham and Chelsea also participated in a pre-season friendly this summer. In Alonso’s second game in charge, Richarlison, who ironically has since been kicked out of the Spurs squad, scored a stoppage-time winner for De Zerbi at Sydney’s Accor Stadium to give Chelsea and Alonso perhaps another boost.
De Zerbi will be hoping to use it all to his advantage as he bids to break an eight-year Tottenham curse and claim victory at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.