Tottenham Hotspur take on Chelsea in a vital London derby today.
Jose Mourinho’s men have been in fine form since he took over the reins from Mauricio Pochettino, winning four out of their first five games.
Frank Lampard’s side, though, have been struggling and have lost their last four out of five.
Nevertheless, the old adage goes that form flies out of the window during a derby and there is a great deal resting on this one; if Spurs win they will leapfrog the Blues and climb into the top four.
Football FanCast has broken down the three ways that Spurs can beat Chelsea this weekend.
Get Alli in that No.10 role
The England international has been in sublime form in the shadow striker role behind forward Harry Kane.
Alli has scored three league goals under Mourinho, including a fantastic strike against Manchester United.
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He has history versus Chelsea, too, netting six times versus the Blues in seven games.
Allowing him to burst forward and cause havoc for the visitors’ central defenders will be vital to Spurs’ chances of victory.
Perseverance
This sounds obvious but Chelsea have an Achilles heel when it comes to conceding late goals.
They have shipped 23 goals in 2019/20 in the Premier League and seven have come between the 76th and 90th minute; only Aston Villa and Watford have conceded more so late in a game.
Spurs, by comparison, have conceded just twice in that time period and it speaks to a potential weakness in the Blues’ mentality; they are often unable to keep their concentration and it can lead to them slipping up.
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If the scores are level, or even if Spurs are behind, there will always be the hope of a slip from Lampard’s men.
Spurs, of course, scored a last-minute winner against Wolves last weekend so they will be well-placed to take advantage.
Get Son and Lucas off the wings
Chelsea have conceded 68% of the shots against them from the middle of the pitch.
Thus, it makes sense for Mourinho to field a narrower XI and instruct both Son and Lucas to cut inside and form a narrow quartet alongside Alli and Harry Kane.
It would also force Chelsea’s full-backs to come inside with them and free up space on the flanks for the Spurs wing-backs, likely to be Serge Aurier and Jan Vertonghen.
It could, in turn, overload the Blues’ centre-backs and force N’Golo Kante to drop deeper and leave the midfield outnumbered too.
Both Son and Lucas are in fine form, too, with Son scoring a world-class solo goal against Burnley two weeks ago and the Brazilian on the scoresheet in the 2-1 win over Wolves at the weekend.
It makes sense for Mourinho.
Meanwhile, Spurs fans have reacted to a major new update on Giovani Lo Celso.