What could possibly be better than an English cup final? An English cup final between two local rivals. Chelsea and Tottenham will be facing off on Sunday in an ultimate battle for London bragging rights – with not a measly three points at stake, but the League Cup hanging in the balance.
The Blues of west-London and the Lilywhites of north-London have met each other twice this season, with a high contrast between the two encounters. A dominating 3-0 Chelsea win at Stamford Bridge in December and a shocking 5-3 Spurs triumph at the Lane a month later are proof that Sunday’s fixture will not only be cracking, but unpredictable. It’s been almost two months since the 5-3 loss, but Chelsea and its supporters have most certainly not forgotten the frustration felt that day. The Blues will most certainly be looking to exact revenge for being utterly embarrassed by Spurs on New Years Day.
RECENT FIXTURES:
Chelsea have not played since last weekend, where they shared the points with Burnley in a controversial 1-1 draw. Having played the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 fixture against PSG last week, the Blues had no midweek game to worry about, giving José Mourinho plenty of time to prepare his squad for Sunday’s final.
On the other end of the spectrum, Tottenham travelled to Italy on Thursday, where they were knocked out of this year’s UEFA Europa League by Fiorentina. Mohamed Salah, on loan from Chelsea, ironically put the nail in the coffin by extending the Viola’s lead to two after seventy-one minutes. While Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino did leave out some of his key players, his side will have to travel back to England and will have only two days to get ready for Wembley. This will clearly put Tottenham at a disadvantage, as rest and preparation are limited ahead of Sunday while Chelsea have had a full week off.
TEAM NEWS:
While Chelsea may have had much more time to both rest and strategize ahead of Sunday, they will also be without arguably their most important player. Nemanja Matić has been ultimately handed a two match ban for his reaction to Ashley Barnes dangerous challenge last weekend. To make matters worse John Obi Mikel, who would have most likely been the Serbian’s replacement, will also miss the final, through injury. That leaves a big hole for José Mourinho to fill in his starting eleven, and for Mauricio Pochettino to exploit with his. Read Chelsea’s very own Scott Crumbly took a look at how Mourinho might go about filling the hole left by Matić, and you can read about that here.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
Harry Kane has been on fire of late for Spurs, and he netted twice the last time these two London rivals met. Christian Eriksen is also a very special player for Tottenham, and the two of them should be under close watch by the Chelsea defence on Sunday.
As for Chelsea, it will be very interesting to see the starting eleven that Mourinho selects for the match. Matić’s absence will most certainly be noticed in the midfield, but the Blues will still be both extremely solid defensively and dangerous on the attack with players like Eden Hazard and Diego Costa lurking.
My prediction is that while Chelsea will most certainly miss Nemanja Matić, they are still the stronger team and have had time and rest on their side. I think that the game will be an extremely passionate and entertaining one that will see Chelsea win by a very slight margin.
Follow Evan McMurtrie on Twitter: @ChelseaBlueUSA
