Tottenham Hotspur know that an extremely rare Stamford Bridge victory may be required when they take on Chelsea on Tuesday.
West Ham are in action away at Newcastle United on Sunday and can leapfrog Spurs with a win in the North-East.
That would leave Tottenham in the relegation zone heading into their game in hand against London rivals Chelsea, with just one more fixture to follow after that.
Chelsea enter the match on a rather poor run of form, though, having most recently lost 1-0 to Manchester City in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
And there is one long-running record Spurs an bring to an end for Chelsea when the sides meet next week.
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Chelsea aiming to avoid fifth successive home league loss
Roberto De Zerbi is making Tottenham better all the time, but the worry is that the Italian will simply not have enough time to completely turn things around.
Tottenham’s home draw with Leeds United earlier this week can be considered two points dropped, but it did at least extend the Lilywhites’ unbeaten run to four matches.
Spurs’ dire record away at Chelsea is pretty well documented now. They have won just one of their last 35 away league games against the Blues, with that a 3-1 win in April 2018 under Mauricio Pochettino.
Chelsea’s 38 Premier League wins over Tottenham, meanwhile, is the most times they have defeated an opponent in the competition.
And in a further bad omen, Chelsea have not lost their final home league game in any of the last 23 seasons, winning 16 of those, since a 3-1 loss to Aston Villa in 2001-02.
That is a pretty remarkable run, but streaks such as that are there to be beaten.
There is no time like the present, either, as Chelsea have lost four straight league matches at Stamford Bridge.
Never in their history have they lost five in a row on home soil, so Tottenham have a chance to inflict unwanted history on their hated rivals.
Chelsea are winless in their last seven Premier League games, meanwhile, last having a longer run between December 1994 and February 1995 (10 matches).
Tottenham could hit six-year high of their own
De Zerbi has made Tottenham much tougher to beat if nothing else, but wins are likely now needed.
Spurs have won back-to-back away games, against Wolves and Aston Villa, and could win three in a row on their travels for the first time since 2020.
That would be quite some doing from De Zerbi and would leave Spurs in a good position heading into next week’s home clash with Everton.
Having taken as many points in their last four under De Zerbi (eight) as they had done in their previous 17 combined, now is the time for Spurs to strike.
Stamford Bridge has been far from a happy hunting ground for them, but Chelsea’s recent home woes suggest that could be about to change.
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