Two-nil. Goodbye. It was the first time where we felt the game could go in another direction and it didn’t.
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Tottenham have only won one of their last 12 games against the Blues in all competitions and will be hoping home comforts can help them beat their rivals for a second successive season.
Spurs have been in exceptional form in the league of late and not lost since the opening day of the season, away to Manchester United. But we have a very good relationship and I am sure we will say hello before the game on Sunday.
Mourinho has stated his happiness to continue with his current squad amid speculation of changes in January.
That meant Kurt Zouma and Gary Cahill were paired at the heart of the visitors’ defence, while Eden Hazard was pushed forward to fill the hole left by the brooding Costa.
“If this country in that moment decided it was not a problem for Chelsea, why is it a problem now for Tottenham?”.
Asmir Begovic knocked down a tricky, low, bouncing shot from Harry Kane as the game hit 18 minutes. However, without trying to offend any Spurs fans who may be reading, Chelsea are the better side on their day and should be much higher in the table than they are.
That was as good as it got in a stalemate.
Lloris made a fine save to deny Hazard a first goal of the season.
Diego Costa was dropped after his half-time argument, with Pedro deployed as a false nine. The draw lifts them one place to 14th.
Tottenham will look to extend their unbeaten run when they take on Chelsea at White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon. Last season this was the most exciting fixture of the EPL season, a Spurs 5-3 win, but my logic tells me this one will be very different.
The pair, whose teams are due to face off in the Premier League tomorrow, have known each other since their coaching stints in Spain; while Mourinho managed Real Madrid, Pochettino was in charge of Espanyol. You play the top teams and if you win you’re a hero. “The team defended like a team… against a team that presses really well and aggressively”.
“A top player going on the bench, they are not happy”, Mourinho added. If you combined those two bets in a score-cast then we get very tempting odds of 65/1. “As a team, we are defending better”.
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Clearly believing he was set to be introduced, the striker did little in the way of stretching or exercising but instead kept a close eye on Jose Mourinho and his assistants, waiting to be called.
