It’s a tense atmosphere in Chelsea, where Italian manager Maurizio Sarri seems to be getting closer to dismissal. Wednesday evening, at 20:00, Chelsea receives a visit to London’s top rival Tottenham in a 28th round of the Premier League. The situation in the ranking obliges both teams to win, each being in the fight for a different goal.
Chelsea’s share is on the rise, and that’s no wonder at all. Although “The Blues” played well in the League Cup finals, lost to penalties in front of Manchester City (3-4), Chelsea sits on a barrel of powder and the players seem to have lost respect for Sarri manager. This was also revealed by the incredible scenes spent in the last minutes of the game with City (0-0 after regular time, when “citizens” pulled a single shot on the gate). Observing that goalkeeper Kepa has muscle problems, Sarri has decided to replace the Spanish goalkeeper with his compatriot, Willy Caballero, a penalty shootout specialist.
Stupidity caught the arena, when Kepa vehemently refused to leave the field and became the first player in the modern history of England’s top football that refused to replace with a colleague! Sarri made a nervous breakdown for the moment, but then explained to the press that it was just a “simple misunderstanding”. Everybody could see, however, that Sarri lost control of his players, especially since captain Azpilicueta did not try to support his manager in those hallucinating moments.
Chelsea is coming from 4 defeats in the last 6 games and disappointed in the games with Manchester United (0-2), Bournemouth (0-4) and especially with Manchester City in the championship (0-6). But the team will be mobilized for this local derby, because the pride of Londoners can not be ignored, and Tottenham will have a hard game. When properly trained, Chelsea can keep away any opponent, as demonstrated in the City final.
Tottenham comes after four wins in the last 5 stages, but surprisingly lost to Burnley in the weekend (1-2), and his chances for the title have diminished drastically. Tottenham is in third place in the standings (goal 55-27), while Chelsea is on the 6th place (goal 45-29). The guests are fighting for the 1 st place, but Chelsea has a strong duel with Manchester United and Arsenal for a Top 4 ranking. That’s why we can see an offensive on both bands because the draw does not help any of the camps.
The tournament was 3-1 for Tottenham, Wembley, but Chelsea took the lead in the direct duel of the League of England, where the white-blue won 3-1 in the home after the extra time. In 5 of the last 6 direct duels we scored both bands and the return of Harry Kane in Pochettino’s team encourages us to bet on goals and Wednesday night! Tottenham is the team with the best Premier League balance in away games and has often shown that he can control the parties in which he falls due to England’s “grandees”. The winners’ quota is very attractive and worth trying, given Chelsea’s domestic problems.
CHELSEA – TOTTENHAM PROBABILITY TEAMS
Chelsea: Kepa – Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Emerson – Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic – Willian, Higuain, Hazard
Tottenham: Lloris – Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Daives – Winks – Sissoko, Eriksen – Moura – Son, Kane
PREDICTION: Over 2,5 goals @ 1,78
