Tottenham Hotspur will entertain Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium earlier tonight as they look to secure a good result at home in the Premier League. Spurs suffered a poor 2-0 loss at the hands of Newcastle United in the EFL Cup recently, so they would be eager to get back to winning ways this weekend.
Thomas Frank will set his players up in a 4-2-3-1 formation and is expected to make some tweaks to his first XI for this game. Micky van de Ven, Mohammed Kudus and Mathys Tel could all play from the start of this London derby.
Defence
Guglielmo Vicario will operate in between the sticks for Tottenham after he got a rest in midweek. Kevin Danso will resume his partnership with Micky van de Ven at the heart of the Tottenham backline as they look to keep things solid on the defensive end of the field.
Djed Spence will try to shine as the left-back, while Pedro Porro fills in on the other side as the right-back. Both of them will have to pick and choose their moments to join in on the attack.
Ben Davies and Cristian Romero will be sidelined for this game because of injuries.
Midfield
Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur will anchor the midfield for Spurs as they look to win the 50-50 battles at the centre of the park and engineer some inviting chances for their teammates up top.
The talented trio of Xavi Simons, Lucas Bergvall and Mohammed Kudus will play just ahead of them as part of the Tottenham attack. All three of them need to combine well if they are to create enough chances for Spurs to secure a good result in the London derby.
Pape Matar Sarr and Brennan Johnson will have to be content with a spot on the bench as they wait for their chance to make an impact in the second 45 minutes if needed.
Attack
Mathys Tel will lead the line for Tottenham in the final third. He has to find a way to be a constant menace up top.
Richarlison will have to settle for a place on the bench and might come on to influence the game in the latter stages if Spurs are in need of a goal by then.