English Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Chelsea Preview
Striker Rafael van der Vaart is out of the clash against Chelsea after failing to recover from the hamstring injury. However, Younes Kaboul trained with the squad following a hip problem and may be in the squad to welcome the Blues to White Hart Lane. Luka
Modric seems to also have recovered from the flu which kept him out of the Champions League fixture against FC Twente during midweek and will feature today.
Jermaine Jenas and Niko Kranjcar are out, calf and hamstring injury respectively, while captain Ledley King has yet to recover from his groin injury. Tom Huddlestone has an ankle injury and a return date has yet to be given for him. The same is the case
with Jamie O’Hara and Jonathan Woodate, both are long term absentees.
Carlo Ancelotti will once again not risk Frank Lampard because he is still not fully fit. The England international is reportedly back in training with the squad after his groin and tendon injuries, but needs match practice. Portuguese right back Jose Bosingwa
is out with a hamstring injury, while Ashley Cole returns to the squad following an ankle knock.
Match Facts
Chelsea have only managed to win one of their last six away matches in the Premier League. They have failed to score in four of those away fixtures.
Tottenham failed to beat Chelsea in the League from 1988 to 2005, a run of 17 matches. However, since then they have won thrice and none of their last four home matches against Chelsea in the League.
Only one team has managed to claim a win at White Hart Lane in the last 19 matches there in the Premier League.
The last two teams to beat Tottenham at White Hart Lane were in the drop zone; Wigan and Wolverhampton.
In the last six Premier League matches at White Hart Lane, Rafael van der Vaart has scored five goals.
Since the arrival of Roman Abramovich, this is the worst performance by the Blues in the Premier League after 16 games in terms of points.
Chelsea’s conversion rate has gone down from 19% in October to 3.6% currently.
This is Chelsea’s worst run since September 2000; they have just managed five points out of a possible 18.
It has been 15 matches in the Premier League since Tottenham kept a clean sheet.
Florent Malouda is currently the only player in the Premier League this season to have created more than three goal scoring chances per game on average, 3.3.
Possible Starting XI
Tottenham (Possible, 4-4-2): Gomes; Hutton, Bassong, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Palacios, Modric, Bale; Defoe, Crouch.
Chelsea (Possible, 4-3-3): Cech; Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Kalou, Essien, Mikel, Malouda; Drogba, Anelka.
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