• Tottenham v Chelsea, Wednesday, midnight (Thursday, UAE time)
Saturday’s 4-2 defeat of Stoke City means Antonio Conte’s Chelsea are now one win away from setting a new record for consecutive Premier League victories in a single season.
Emerge victorious from this week’s meeting with Tottenham Hotspur and they will go one better than the 13 successive wins Arsenal managed in 2001/02.
It will be far from straightforward, though. Just as Chelsea relished ending Tottenham’s title hopes in May, fans and players of the north London club would take great delight in denying one of their biggest rivals a place in the record books.
There is also the fact that Mauricio Pochettino’s side are in impressive form, with Sunday’s 4-1 thrashing of Watford making it five wins, 18 goals scored and four conceded in the six league matches since they were beaten by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge at the end of November.
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That was win No 7 in Chelsea’s spectacular sequence, and perhaps the encounter that Conte’s men found most difficult since the run began with a 2-0 victory over Hull City at the start of the October.
Tottenham were excellent in the first half, disrupting Chelsea’s rhythm by constantly pressing them high up the pitch.
The hosts looked uncomfortable playing out from the back and were often forced into hurried long passes, while the front three of Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Pedro were starved of service and struggled to get into the game.
Tottenham looked set to head into the break with a one-goal advantage after Christian Eriksen beat Thibaut Courtois with a fine effort in the 11th minute, but a goal from Pedro on the stroke of half-time proved to be the catalyst for significant improvement in Chelsea’s performance in the second period.
Chelsea were much sharper after the interval, forcing the visitors back and ultimately doing enough to secure a 2-1 win that kept them at the summit of the standings.
Pochettino will have been disappointed in the immediate aftermath of that loss, but there were certainly several positives that can be taken into this week’s return fixture.
Hunting the ball in a similar fashion should allow Tottenham to dominate possession at White Hart Lane, although they must be wary about Chelsea’s speed and quality on the counter-attack.
The return to fitness of Harry Kane has raised the team’s overall attacking output, while Eriksen and Dele Alli have been much improved in recent weeks after dips in form earlier in the campaign.
Tottenham must seek to capitalise if they are on top at any stage of Wednesday’s match, though. For all of their territorial superiority in the opening half at Stamford Bridge, they did not create enough clear-cut chances to take a commanding lead.
Chelsea have found a way to win time and again in the last three months, but Tottenham possess enough quality across the pitch to cause them problems.
While Pochettino will be hopeful that his squad’s renewed confidence could make all the difference in front of what will be a boisterous home crowd, Conte knows that his side are adept at absorbing pressure and breaking at speed.
It is all set up to be a fascinating contest. Tottenham will be desperate to avoid it becoming a historic one, too.
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