Chelsea Football Club

The Blues head into today's game off the back of reaching the Carabao Cup quarter-final with a 4-3 win over Wolves, after Maresca had made ten changes.

And the Italian has shuffled his pack again as Robert Sanchez returns in goal behind a back four of Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah and Marc Cucurella.

Moises Caicedo and Reece James are expected to start in midfield, as Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandez and Alejandro Garnacho play in the more advanced attacking positions, with Joao Pedro leading the line.

A strong Blues bench includes plenty of attacking options in the likes of Estevao Willian, Jamie Gittens, Andrey Santos and Marc Guiu among the substitutes.

Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo, James (c); Neto, Enzo, Garnacho; Joao Pedro

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Tosin, Hato, Lavia, Andrey Santos, Estevao Willian, Gittens, Guiu

Head-to-head

Chelsea have won more league games at Tottenham than we have lost - 29 wins to 28 defeats.

Tottenham have won one of their past 13 Premier League games against Chelsea (two draws, 10 defeats), a 2-0 home win in February 2023.

Chelsea have won five of our six Premier League games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (one defeat), the most wins any visiting side have picked up at the ground since Spurs moved there in 2019.

The Blues have won our last four Premier League games against Spurs and are aiming for a fifth straight win, a feat last achieved with six consecutive victories between 2000 and 2002. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored eight goals in those games.

We have also won more Premier League away games against Tottenham than any against other side (16).

Chelsea have won more games in all competitions against Tottenham than we have against any other club.

Head-to-Head (all competitions)

Played 179

Won 81

Drawn 43

Lost 55

Biggest win for each team:

Tottenham 5-0 Chelsea | 1920/21 | Division One

Tottenham 1-6 Chelsea | 1997/98 | Premier League

Last five meetings at Tottenham

Chelsea stats

Chelsea have secured victories in four of our previous seven away Premier League fixtures, with one draw and two defeats, following an earlier sequence of eight consecutive winless matches on the road.

Chelsea (with Tottenham and Manchester City) are the highest scorers in the Premier League this season with 17 goals.

The Blues have won two of our last 11 Premier League games kicking off at 5.30pm on a Saturday (four draws, five defeats), including the most recent one against Liverpool.

Chelsea are unbeaten in our last seven Premier League London derbies since a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal in March (four wins, three draws).

The Blues are seeking their fourth straight away win in all competitions, a feat last achieved with a five-game streak in late 2024. The fourth win of that run was at Tottenham.

On Wednesday against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup, Enzo Maresca made ten changes from the Sunderland match in the Premier League the previous weekend. Only Josh Acheampong kept his place.

Against Wolves, we became the first Premier League side of all-time with four different scorers aged 21 or younger in a match in all competitions – Andrey Santos 21, Tyrique George 19, Estevao Willian 18 and Jamie Gittens 21. The Santos and Gittens goals were their first for the club.

Alejandro Garnacho is the tenth different player to score for Chelsea in the Premier League this season (excluding own goals), with only Arsenal (11) having more scorers than the Blues.

Excluding own goals, each of Chelsea’s last 101 Premier League goals has been scored by a player under the age of 30, the eighth-longest such run in Premier League history.

Premier League scorers: Caicedo 3, Fernandez 3 (1 pen), Chalobah 2, Joao Pedro 2, Neto 2, Acheampong 1, Estevao 1, Garnacho 1, James 1, Palmer 1

Premier League assists: Joao Pedro 3, Cucurella 2, James 2, Neto 2, Estevao 1, Fernandez 1, Gusto 1

Milestones

Maresca is looking for his 50th win in his 79th match as Blues head coach.

Tosin Adarabioyo made his 50th appearance for the club against Wolverhampton Wanderers and captained the side for the first time.

Tottenham stats

Last season

Premier League - 17th

FA Cup - Lost 2-1 to Aston Villa in the fourth round

Carabao Cup - Lost 4-1 on aggregate to Liverpool in the semi-finals

Europa League - Winners, beat Manchester United 1-0 in the final

Top scorer (all competitions): Brennan Johnson 18

Top Premier League scorer: Brennan Johnson 11

This season’s Premier League stats

Most minutes played: Vicario 810, Van de Ven 800, Kudus 788

Most goals: Richarlison 3, Van de Ven 3, Johnson 2, Palhinha 2, Sarr 2

Most assists: Kudus 4, Richarlison 2, Sarr 2

Most duels won: Palhinha 66, Kudus 63, Romero 37

Clean sheets: Vicario 4

Most fouls conceded: Kudus 15, Porro 11, Sarr 11

Since the start of last season, Tottenham Hotspur have dropped more points from winning positions at home in the Premier League (19) than any other side. No side has lost more Premier League matches when scoring first than Tottenham (eight).

Spurs have won three of their last 18 Premier League home games (four draws, 11 defeats). Since the first game of this run (against Ipswich Town on 10 November 2024), no ever-present side has lost more home games (10) or picked up fewer home points (13) in the competition than Spurs.

Tottenham have won eight of their last 10 Premier League games kicking off at 5.30pm on a Saturday (one draw, one defeat), keeping seven clean sheets in the process.

Tottenham have the Premier League's best away record this season but rank 17th for home points, with only Nottingham Forest, Wolves and West Ham United earning fewer at home than Spurs (four).

Only Arsenal (seven) and Chelsea (six) have scored more Premier League goals from corners this season than Tottenham (five).

Spurs have lost 10 of their last 17 London derbies in the Premier League (four wins, three draws), keeping two clean sheets in their last 22 derby matches in the competition.

Five of Tottenham’s 17 Premier League goals this season have come via headers (29.4 per cent), with those goals coming in two games (two against West Ham, three against Everton). It is their highest percentage of headed goals in a season since 1998/99 (16 of 47, 34 per cent).

Last week against Everton, Micky van de Ven became the first defender to score twice in a Premier League game for Tottenham since Jan Vertonghen in March 2013 against Liverpool.

Kevin Danso made 18 clearances against Everton, the most by a Spurs player for nearly nine years.

Joao Palhinha has made more tackles (39) than any other player in the Premier League this season.

On Wednesday against Newcastle United, Thomas Frank made four changes from the preceding game against Everton.

Last five results

Leeds United (a) W 2-1

Aston Villa (h) L 2-1

Monaco (CL, a) D 0-0

Everton (a) W 3-0

Newcastle United (LC, a) L 2-0

Thomas Frank’s managerial record v Chelsea

Won: 3

Drawn: 3

Lost: 3

Last Premier League line-up

Everton 0-3 Tottenham HotspurSaturday 26 October

Team (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Porro, Danso, Van de Ven (c), Spence; Palhinha, Bentancur; Johnson (Tel 90+3), Kudus (Sarr 78), Simons (Bergvall 61); Kolo Muani (Richarlison 62)

Goals: Van de Ven 19, 45+6, Sarr 89

Discipline

Liam Delap is suspended (one match) following his red card against Wolves.

In the Premier League, five yellow cards received before 19 league fixtures have been completed will result in a one-match suspension in the competition.

Premier League yellow cards: Cucurella 2, Estevao 2, George 2, Hato 2, James 2, Sanchez 2, Santos 2, Caicedo 2, Chalobah 1, Badiashile 1, Fernandez 1, Tosin 1

Match officials

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Assistants: Timothy Wood, Wade Smith

Fourth official: Sam Barrott

VAR: Craig Pawson

Assistant VAR: Adrian Holmes

This will be Jarred Gillett’s first Chelsea appointment since we lost 2-1 to Brighton last February in the FA Cup.

Development is never linear; there are often ups and downs along a journey. Maresca is more than aware of that.

As his players continue to grow and refine their talent, the Blues head coach is prepared to deal with those peaks and troughs, and he pointed to our 4-3 win over Wolves as a perfect example.

We showed our quality in spades at Molineux by racing to a 3-0 lead before the break. But after the interval, we struggled to maintain our grip on the game as the home side fought back. We eventually claimed a 4-3 victory.

That secured our place in the final eight of the Carabao Cup, and Maresca feels that his side will only improve from experiences such as that against Wolves.

Speaking ahead of tonight's trip to Tottenham, he said: ‘During Wednesday’s game, the first half was completely under control. The second half, probably after the first goal we conceded, we panicked a little bit. I think it’s part of the learning process of this squad and this team.

‘Wednesday night, we had one player born in 2007, three players from 2006, four players from 2004, one player from 2003, another from 2002, and the oldest player born in 1997. So, it is all part of the learning process.

‘We took some risks, and I was told after the game that we had an average age of 21. So this is normal. They are young and they need to improve, they need to understand, and they need to live some experience to get better. For sure, in the future we are going to be fantastic.’

Our head coach did, however, point to our success over the summer as proof of the ability within the Blues’ squad.

‘No one expected us to win the Club World Cup because of our age, and we did it,’ he explained. ‘In the Premier League, it’s about consistency during the season, and the main target is to be consistent during the season.

‘We played against Wolves and we achieved a place in the quarter-final, and now we have Tottenham in the Premier League.’

There are few better ways for the Blues to right the wrongs of last weekend's defeat to Sunderland than by claiming victory on Tottenham soil and leapfrogging Thomas Frank's side in the Premier League table.

Spurs have the best away record in the top flight this term but have not been as convincing on their own patch, with two defeats in their four matches in north London.

On Wednesday, both the Blues and Tottenham were in Carabao Cup action. Spurs were knocked out at Newcastle United, while Chelsea survived a second-half scare to win 4-3 at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Enzo Maresca’s side will take on Cardiff City of League One in the last eight, the club’s fifth quarter-final appearance in 10 seasons.

The first Saturday in November usually means fireworks, and Chelsea will be confident of putting on a display equal to the one across the borough at Ally Pally.

The west Londoners have completed the league double over our N17 neighbours in back-to-back seasons, and we are the most successful visiting side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, claiming five victories in our six matches.

The world champions are also unbeaten in our previous seven London debies, and our most recent turnout in this Saturday evening slot brought the thrilling victory over Liverpool.

Chelsea team news

Cole Palmer remains sidelined as he continues to recover from a groin issue. Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile and Dario Essugo are also ruled out due to injury. Liam Delap is suspended due to the red card he was shown in midweek.

Joao Pedro didn't feature at Molineux as he continues to be managed by the Blues coaching staff, while Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo were second-half substitutes. Yet Maresca confirmed the trio are ready to feature in north London if called upon.

'They are okay, they are available,' he said. 'The reason why Joao didn’t play against Wolves is that we tried to protect him. It was the same thing with Moi and with Enzo, just giving them some minutes, but the idea is to protect these players.

'Game by game, we can’t plan with them because of their problems, their situations. So, it's about taking it game-by-game and seeing how many minutes we can use them. We try to use the whole squad because, at this moment, we need the whole squad.'

The history

Chelsea have won 68 of the league matches in this 115-year-old cross-town rivalry, the most against any club.

Twenty-nine of those have come at the Cockerels’ home, which has, after a 12-year unbeaten run between 1989 and 2001, been known to Blues supporters as ‘Three Point Lane’.

The west triumphing over north London bias continued after White Hart Lane was demolished in 2017, with a fine Marcos Alonso securing a 2-1 win at Tottenham’s temporary Wembley home.

Since a defeat at the national stadium in October 2018, the Blues have won five of our six league fixtures in N17, starting with our debut appearance at their current ground in December 2019.

Two goals from Willian without reply delivered the early Christmas present of three points – and the next two visits were wins to nil.

A 2-0 loss under Graham Potter in November 2023 was followed by Chelsea’s biggest win on Tottenham's own patch since the legendary 6-1 in December 1997.

A string of VAR decisions, disallowed goals and sending-offs made for irresistible drama and the Blues' 4-1 victory came despite Dejan Kulusevski’s opener.

Last season’s encounter was almost as strange. Again, Spurs took the lead, and were two up before the west Londoners got into gear.

Jadon Sancho pulled one back, but it was past the hour before the impressive Cole Palmer levelled with the first of two penalties. Enzo Fernandez put Maresca’s side ahead before Palmer’s second from the spot with five to go. Son Heung-Min's last-minute strike was not enough and Chelsea stayed second with the win.

The one-sided nature of this derby in the Premier League era is reflected in a disparity of 116 in goal difference between the two sides from our meetings ( +58 for the Blues; -58 for the Lilywhites).

Chelsea vs Tottenham Premier League derbies

Games

Won

Drawn

Lost

Goal difference

Points

Points per game

Chelsea

+58

Tottenham

-58

Know this...

At 87.1 per cent accuracy, Chelsea’s passing is the second most accurate in the Premier League, behind Manchester City’s 88.2 per cent.

Alejandro Garnacho’s opener against Sunderland was the Blues’ 101st consecutive Premier League goal from a player under the age of 30 (excluding own goals).

The Blues have committed the eighth-most fouls in the top flight, but received the equal-fourth highest number of yellow cards. We have also suffered the third-most fouls, but seen the equal-sixth highest amount of opposition cautions.

Almost 30 per cent of Spurs’ goals (five of 17) were headers scored in two games – two against West Ham United and three at Everton last weekend.

Chelsea have netted eight goals from set-plays, better than any rival except Arsenal (nine). Tottenham’s tally of five is third-best.

The west Londoners have won three, drawn three and lost three of the nine encounters with Thomas Frank's sides.

Tottenham currently have the best shot conversion rate in the Premier League with 18.1 per cent, while Chelsea’s is fifth-best at 13.9 per cent.

In the Carabao Cup at Wolverhampton, Chelsea became the first Premier League side to have four different goalscorers aged 21 or younger in the same match across all competition - Andrey Santos (21), Tyrique George (19), Estevao Willian (18) and Jamie Gittens (21).

Both clubs have Champions League matches in a few days’ time. Spurs host Copenhagen on Tuesday, while Chelsea are in Azerbaijan to face Qarabag a day later.

Training ahead of Spurs 👻 | Video | Official Site  Chelsea Football Club

Few games whet the appetite like Chelsea versus Spurs, and on Saturday evening we travel to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for a 5.30pm kick-off which will be televised on Sky Sports in the UK.

Enzo Maresca spoke to the media on Friday morning and revealed Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro are all available for the big game.

The Italian made ten changes for Wednesday night's 4-3 Carabao Cup win over Wolves and there are likely to be alterations to his starting XI again for this one.

Captain Reece James, winger Alejandro Garnacho and forwards Joao Pedro and Marc Guiu were among those who sat out the game at Molineux and were pictured during Friday's session at Cobham.

You can see some of the standout pictures from today's training below!

Since beating Burnley on the opening day of 2025/26, Tottenham have lost at home to Bournemouth and Aston Villa, while only a last-minute equaliser spared them defeat to lowly Wolves.

However, they have been impressive on the road, winning four and drawing one of their five away games, and they currently sit in third position in the Premier League table. Maresca is expecting a tough challenge.

‘Tottenham are doing very well,’ he said

‘They finished last season winning the Europa League and started this season very well. Also, because it’s a derby, it will be a difficult game.’

The Blues travel to the north of the capital off the back of games against Sunderland and Wolves in which first Alejandro Garnacho and then Jamie Gittens opened their account for the club.

That healthy competition for places on the left flank is giving Maresca a selection headache – and it is one he is pleased to have as the two new signings acclimatise to life at Chelsea.

‘They are both doing well and it’s what we want from our wingers, scoring goals and assists,’ said Maresca.

‘They are both adapting every day to the way we work. It’s good to have both doing well so we can choose one or the other.’

Whoever is picked tomorrow will be determined to make another significant contribution as we seek a third London derby victory already this season.

Our history with Spurs goes back a long way and ahead of the latest London derby instalment, we’ve taken a trip down memory lane to pick out six famous moments from the historic fixture.

Need a reminder? Then read on and watch the video, before joining in the conversation and voting in our poll below!

Goldbaek’s golden strike

Tottenham 2-2 Chelsea

May 1999

Bjarne Goldbaek is the first entry on our list, after the wideman silenced White Hart Lane just before the turn of the Millennium with an absolute rocket to secure us a share of the spoils in this entertaining 2-2 draw.

Collecting the ball on the right flank from skipper Dennis Wise, Goldbaek took a touch, got the ball out of his feet before letting fly from 30 yards and watching his strike fly over Spurs goalkeeper Ian Walker and into the far top corner. Pick that one out!

Desailly wins it!

Tottenham 2-3 Chelsea

September 2001

Is there anything better than a winning goal deep into stoppage time? Yes, there is – a winning goal deep into stoppage time away at Tottenham!

That’s what Marcel Desailly did for the Blues, when he stooped low at the back post to head home from a corner as the clock ticked over to 94 minutes at White Hart Lane, securing us a dramatic 3-2 victory over our rivals and sending the Chelsea fans tucked away at the far end of the stadium wild.

This ill-tempered derby at White Hart Lane was packed full of drama, much of it arriving in the closing stages. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink twice gave Chelsea the lead, the second arriving with just nine minutes of the 90 remaining.

But that didn’t look like that would be enough as Teddy Sheringham equalised again and Lampard was sent off for a second booking in added time. Then Desailly arrived at the back post to head in from a corner, as our undefeated run at Spurs was extended into a 14th year.

Hasselbaink's perfect hat-trick

Chelsea 4-0 Tottenham

March 2002

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink simply loved a goal against Tottenham and that was proven on a special night in March 2002.

Having already beaten Spurs 4-0 in the FA Cup, we matched that scoreline in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge soon after courtesy of Hasselbaink’s treble. His first was a whipped strike from distance on the run, bending away from the keeper and nestling in the bottom corner.

After Hasselbaink had added his second courtesy of a well-placed header, he completed a perfect hat-trick in style. He bustled his way past two Tottenham defenders to the apex of the 18-yard box before curling a left-footed beauty into the far corner.

Three on the night, and three of a remarkable 12 he would score against Tottenham in just 11 appearances.

Cahill’s volley, Mata’s genius

Tottenham 2-4 Chelsea

October 2012

There’s just something about Chelsea playing at White Hart Lane, isn’t there? The next entry on our list is courtesy of another away win in north London and a thumping volley from Gary Cahill, added with a brilliant individual display from Juan Mata.

The Blues got off to the perfect start when defender Cahill found himself unmarked from a corner, before hammering home a volley into the roof of the net. The goalkeeper never stood a chance, such was the ferocity it was struck with.

Then, over to Juan Mata. The Spaniard shone on this day and the Spurs side couldn’t handle him. After netting two goals himself, Mata then chased down Kyle Walker and robbed him off the ball before squaring for Daniel Sturridge to tap home as we secured a memorable victory down the Seven Sisters Road.

The battle of the Bridge

Chelsea 2-2 Tottenham

May 2016

The second 2-2 draw on our list, this game will forever be remembered as the night we ended Tottenham’s title dreams and ensured Leicester City – including future Blues N’Golo Kante, Ben Chilwell and Danny Drinkwater – would lift the Premier League trophy.

Tottenham needed to win at the Bridge to keep pace with Claudio Ranieri’s surprise title-challenging Foxes. Spurs led 2-0 at half-time but Chelsea roared back in the second period and a goal from Gary Cahill and a truly special Eden Hazard strike saw the game end 2-2.

With the Premier League title slipping away, Spurs lost their heads and ended the contest with nine players booked. Meanwhile, Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri rang his former club with a message of thanks soon after the full-time whistle.

Palmer’s Panenka

Tottenham 3-4 Chelsea

December 2024

Our final entry is a true hall of fame entry, a game that had everything and a real cracker just before Christmas.

A couple of unfortunate Marc Cucurella slips allowed the hosts to race into a 2-0 lead, but this Chelsea side know how to win at Spurs. A fine strike from Jadon Sancho halved the deficit, before Cole Palmer’s first penalty of the evening drew us level.

Palmer then turned provider for Enzo Fernandez to slam home in front of the raucous Chelsea fans behind the goal before Palmer was bundled over in the box, allowing for him to seal the victory from the spot.

Cold as ever, the England international performed a ‘Panenka’ chip down the middle to make it 4-2 and ensure the points were heading back with us to SW6, despite Son Heung-min pulling one back for Spurs in the dying embers of the match.

Memorable moments vs Tottenham | Video | Official Site  Chelsea Football Club

Maresca Press Conference 🎙️ | Video | Official Site  Chelsea Football Club