Tottenham and Chelsea head into their crunch fixture on Saturday at Wembley separated by just one point in the Premier League table.
Both sides harbour title ambitions, with league leaders Manchester City just four points ahead of Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea and five ahead of Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs. The two managers will know how a win will throw down the gauntlet to City and second-placed Liverpool.
Here’s a look at the key tactical dilemmas Pochettino and Sarri will be weighing up ahead of Saturday as the Premier League returns.
TOTTENHAM CAN LOOK TO EVERTON BLUEPRINT
After seeing his Everton side hold Chelsea to a 0-0 draw earlier this month, Toffees manager Marco Silva revealed the blueprint to negate the Blues’ attacking prowess: stop Jorginho.
Chelsea’s pass-master was kept to his lowest pass count of the season in that fixture. Attackers Gylfi Sigurdsson and Richarlison diligently harangued the Italian, supporting midfielders Andre Gomes and Idrissa Gueye as Everton put in a concerted effort to keep Jorginho off the ball as much as possible. When he was in possession, Silva’s plan was to make sure to deny the Italian time and space to dictate Chelsea’s play.
Tottenham can look to do something similar on Saturday. Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane and Dele All are all adept at supporting their midfield defensively, and Moussa Sissoko can fulfill the same responsibilities as Gomes and Gueye.
Jorginho passes in the PL:
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) November 11, 2018
Huddersfield - 66
Arsenal - 99
Newcastle - 173
B'mouth - 79
Cardiff - 92
West Ham - 180
Liverpool - 73
S'hampton - 91
Man Utd - 74
Burnley - 102
Palace - 107
Everton - 50#CFC
CHELSEA COULD TWEAK TO EXPLOIT WEAKNESS
Though ‘Sarriball’ calls for keeping the ball on the ground as much as possible, if Chelsea were to tweak their style a little on Saturday there’s a clear weakness to exploit.
Six of the first eight competitive goals Tottenham conceded this season were from headers. Though that ratio has improved, Spurs’ aerial numbers still make for grim reading – they are dead last in the Premier League in percentage of aerial duels won, at 43 per cent.
It’s unlikely Sarri would go as far as to play Olivier Giroud and Alvaro Morata together and subject Tottenham to an aerial bombardment. But he has options, from starting Giroud to spending extra time on set pieces this week to allow players with aerial prowess – Antonio Rudiger, for instance – to come to the fore.
Mauricio Pochettino demands more from his Tottenham Hotspur side and discusses if Spurs need to also work on defending set-pieces:
— Last Word On Spurs🎙 (@LastWordOnSpurs) September 2, 2018
"If you want to be a contender, to be at the top, you cannot concede this type of action."#THFC #COYSpic.twitter.com/E0LAYUK9C7
TIME FOR POCHETTINO TO TAKE A RISK
Stylistically, Chelsea and Tottenham are similar teams, but Pochettino has an ace up his sleeve that he could turn to.
Tweaking his side and setting them up to play in a 3-5-2 would allow his wing-backs to push up against Chelsea’s wide players, and give Spurs enough of a midfield presence to stifle Jorginho and company and disrupt the visitors’ passing game.
It was a tactic Pochettino used regularly until last season, when City tore Spurs apart thanks to the space in behind the wingbacks. But Sarri hasn’t faced a tactical tweak like that in the Premier League yet, so perhaps this is the time for the Spurs manager to take the risk.
Pochettino could make a tactical tweak against Chelsea.
