Preview: Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur

As Xabi Alonso scrutinises from afar, Chelsea play their final Premier League home game of the season on Tuesday night, when London rivals Tottenham Hotspur visit Stamford Bridge.

The Blues are at an increasing risk of missing out on European football altogether in 2026-27, whereas the Lilywhites could have the chance to secure survival in the capital derby.

Match preview

An appropriate response to losing a fourth consecutive FA Cup final, Chelsea confirmed the appointment of Bundesliga Invincible Alonso on a four-year contract fewer than 24 hours after a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City under the Wembley arch.

Calum McFarlane's men held their own against the treble-chasing Citizens, but the one moment of attacking ingenuity that counted for something was conjured up by Antoine Semenyo, whose audacious backheel sent Chelsea back to Stamford Bridge empty-handed.

The Blues likely made a decent impression on the incoming Alonso if nothing else, but failure to sink the Sky Blues closed off one potential route to European football for Tuesday's hosts, who are mathematically out of top-five contention in the Premier League.

Nevertheless, Chelsea's Champions League hopes are not dead and buried just yet, as McFarlane's side are six points adrift of Bournemouth in sixth spot, which will present a pathway to the top tier of European competition if Aston Villa finish fifth and win the Europa League.

A gutsy 1-1 draw at Liverpool last weekend also snapped Chelsea's disastrous six-game losing run in the Premier League, although they are still on the verge of making unwanted history; defeat on Tuesday would see the hosts lose five straight league home matches for the first time ever.

© Iconsport / SPI

Not since the 2001-02 season have Chelsea lost their last home game of the campaign, though; that defeat 24 years ago came against Aston Villa, who coincidentally defeated Tottenham in the Lilywhites' final away match of 2024-25.

However, Roberto De Zerbi's rejuvenated men come into Tuesday's crunch clash as the form team, having equalled their longest unbeaten run of the Premier League season by winning two and drawing two of their last four matches.

Spurs' 1-1 draw with Leeds United was very much a case of two points dropped for the Lilywhites, but thanks to bitter rivals Arsenal doing them a huge favour at West Ham United, Tottenham enter gameweek 37 two points clear of the relegation zone in the Premier League table.

Therefore, if the Irons fail to beat Newcastle United on Sunday evening and Tottenham prevail at Stamford Bridge, De Zerbi's men will officially retain their Premier League status and send West Ham down to the Championship.

The Lilywhites' praiseworthy road form suggests that scenario is a realistic one, as only Arsenal and Manchester City have won more Premier League away matches than Tottenham's seven this season, including back-to-back successes at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa in their last two trips.

Spurs were edged out 1-0 by Chelsea in this exact fixture in 2024-25, though, and the Blues' identical away victory in November marked their fifth straight league win over Tottenham, who have not triumphed at Stamford Bridge in the top flight since the Mauricio Pochettino days in 2018.

Chelsea Premier League form:

Chelsea form (all competitions):

Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:

Team News

© Imago / Every Second Media

Injury was added to insult for Chelsea in the FA Cup final, where Joao Pedro appeared to hurt his leg in the first half and played through the pain before being forcibly withdrawn in the 86th minute.

The Barcelona-linked Brazilian is therefore a significant injury doubt for Tuesday's derby, which Jesse Derry (head), Estevao Willian (hamstring), Jamie Gittens (thigh) and the banned Mykhaylo Mudryk are guaranteed to miss.

In brighter news, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho and Robert Sanchez were all involved on Saturday after recovering from their own issues, and the former is a contender to replace Reece James if McFarlane avoids risking his injury-plagued captain.

Speaking of players returning from injury, Tottenham's James Maddison made his first appearance of the season against Leeds after his lengthy ACL recovery and could have won a penalty at the end following a challenge from Lukas Nmecha, which was deemed fair.

Maddison - who slammed "petrified" referees after the incident - only came on in the 85th minute of the draw with the Whites, so it may still be too soon for the playmaker to start first-team matches.

Xavi Simons (knee), Wilson Odobert (knee), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), Mohammed Kudus (thigh) and Cristian Romero (knee) are out of contention for the visitors, but none of Dominic Solanke (hamstring), Ben Davies (ankle) or Guglielmo Vicario (hernia) have been ruled out yet.

Chelsea possible starting lineup:

Sanchez; Fofana, Colwill, Hato; Gusto, Caicedo, Fernandez, Cucurella; Palmer, Neto; Delap

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:

Kinsky; Porro, Danso, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Palhinha; Kolo Muani, Gallagher, Tel; Richarlison

We say: Chelsea 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Giving both champions Liverpool and challengers Man City a tough run for their money, Chelsea have had a more solidified look about them since McFarlane's system switch, but their lack of goals - just three in their last seven matches - is yet to be rectified.

With the influential Pedro also potentially missing out, Tottenham should not come under siege from their hosts, but a low-scoring draw still feels the most likely outcome as Spurs' fight for survival goes down to the final day.