(Football news) In Thursday’s match in the capital, Chelsea defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-0, a well-deserved victory, while the Irons had a week to digest a tense 2-2 draw against Liverpool at home.
Chelsea were the most recent team in a long series of teams to attack the Lilywhites’ limitations from set-pieces, striking either side of the half-time whistle from a free-kick scenario, matching an all-time club record by completing their 10th Premier League double over Tottenham.
First, despite wearing two white jerseys, Trevoh Chalobah was given free reign to race forward, meet Conor Gallagher’s lovely delivery, and head goal into the top corner. Next, Cole Palmer’s powerful effort hit the crossbar, and Nicolas Jackson nodded in the rebound.
Even with a crippling 14-strong injury list, leaving Mauricio Pochettino down to the bare bones in terms of senior players available for selection, the Blues were the dominant force throughout the 90 minutes against the Argentine’s former club, ending a three-game winless sequence in impressive style.
Eighth place in the table now belongs to the Blues on account of their midweek success – they leapfrogged none other than upcoming opponents West Ham – and they only have a two-point gap to Newcastle United and three-point disadvantage to Manchester United in the heated race for European qualification.
Further exorcising their previous Stamford Bridge demons, Chelsea now have six wins and a draw to boast from their last seven contests at their West London home in all competitions, scoring multiple goals in each of those matches and keeping clean sheets in both of their last two.
Having enhanced their European credentials in midweek, Chelsea could now strengthen their chances of a top-seven finish even further while simultaneously damaging West Ham’s bid for a place in the revamped continental tournaments for 2024-25, and the form book suggests that such a scenario is highly likely on Sunday.
Going out of the Europa League to unbeaten Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen did not relight a fire within David Moyes’s side, who only have one win to boast from their last nine games and are without a victory in each of their most recent five continentally and domestically.
However, the Irons put in a praiseworthy display against faltering title-chasers Liverpool last week, as Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio forced a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but their European destiny is out of their own hands as they linger in ninth spot, two points below Chelsea having played a game more.
Even though West Ham’s journey to the Etihad to play Manchester City on the last day of the season is not the most difficult away game left on their schedule for 2023–24, they still haven’t kept a clean sheet in the Premier League on the road in 2024, with their most recent victory coming against Arsenal in December.
Though the last three matches at Stamford Bridge have gone in favor of the hosts, the Europa Conference League winners defeated Chelsea 3-1 when they came to the London Stadium in August, and they might potentially accomplish just their third Premier League double over the Blues.
Also read: Liverpool will play Tottenham Hotspurs in the Premier League
