Tottenham Hotspur’s resurgence came too late in Sunday’s North London derby and Ange Postecoglou’s side now face an uphill battle for a place in the top four.
Spurs conceded their goals from strong positions and scored strange goals when the derby seemed to be slipping away from them. Their 3-2 defeat further strengthened Arsenal’s title claims while hampering their own end-of-season ambitions.
There is some debate as to whether a Champions League place would be optimal for Postecoglou at this early stage of his Lilywhite rebuild, but there is no denying that every fan has the desire to beat London rivals Chelsea, led by the former Coach Mauricio Pochettino is being trained.
It hasn’t exactly been a successful time for the north Londoners, but a rare win at Stamford Bridge would undoubtedly cheer up an inherently pessimistic fanbase who sharply question Postecoglou’s ability to lead the club into a new departure.
GK: William Vicar – For their own sake, Tottenham are protecting their goalkeeper better from set pieces and are quickly learning their lesson in the North London derby.
RB: Pedro Porro – Porro was a doubt before Sunday’s defeat due to injury, but the Spaniard played the entire derby and there were no concerns after the game.
CB: Cristian Romero – Postecoglou raved about his centre-back after the North London derby, and rightly so. Romero was outstanding over the weekend and put together a great campaign.
CB: Micky van de Ven – The Dutchman single-handedly stopped Arsenal from breaking away on the counterattack in the second half of the last game. Van de Ven recovery speed is really a cheat code of an attribute.
LB: Ben Davies – Davies may have given Bukayo Saka too much space, which led to Arsenal’s second-place finish at the weekend, but with Destiny Udogie at the end there is little alternative.
CM: Yves Bissouma – Rodrigo Bentancur is being considered for the leadership role, but Bissouma is likely to replace Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
CM: Pape Matar Sarr – The loss of Sarr’s prominence in recent weeks has hampered Spurs. He needs to be back in the team.
CM: Dejan Kulusevski – Kulusevski was excellent on Sunday and deserves his place. Due to James Maddison’s problems, the Swede could take up a midfield position.
RW: Brennan Johnson – If Kulusevski does move into a central role, the productive Johnson is a replacement to start on the right side.
ST: Richarlison – In the last game, Spurs lacked the physicality of Richarlison against Arsenal’s stubborn defense. The Brazilian has struggled with a few problems since the March break but should be fit for the team on Thursday.
LW: Son Heung-min – Son had more success out wide in the derby and the inclusion of Richarlison combined with the absence of Timo Werner means we should see the Spurs captain out wide on the left at Stamford Bridge.