Chelsea FC-Tottenham Hotspur: confirmed line-ups and analysis

As we close in on a potential Premier League-deciding clash, Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed their starting line-ups.

Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur are about to square off in a game that could hand Leicester City the Premier League title. With under an hour until kick-off, Guus Hiddink and Mauricio Pochettino have handed in their team sheets.

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Hiddink has shuffled the Chelsea team significantly and there are a few surprises. Most notably, Eden Hazard starts the game on the bench. The winger returned from injury last weekend and bagged a brace in what was one of his better performances of the campaign. In the build-up to the game, the interim boss stated that he would not play the full 90 minutes, but he was left on for the entirety in the end. Perhaps this is a consequence of that.

Baba Rahman is the second man to make way. While Branislav Ivanovic and John Obi Mikel sat at the heart of the defence against the Cherries, John Terry and Gary Cahill return to the starting eleven this evening. Ivanovic moves out to right-back while Cesar Azpilicueta switches back over to the left flank.

Mikel will partner Nemanja Matic in the middle of the park in what is a relatively defensive set-up. The Serb looked closer to his true quality last Saturday and will be hoping to continue improving tonight.

After a virtuoso performance at the seaside, Cesc Fabregas is moved up to the more advanced role. The Spaniard has proven to be less effective in this position due to the lack of time and space that he is afforded and thus this decision is somewhat baffling.

Pedro and Willian will be patrolling the wings, presumably riding high on confidence after scoring a goal each. Diego Costa, meanwhile, will lead the line. This clash is going to be a highly-charged affair and the Blues will be praying that their temperamental forward can channel his emotions towards the opposition’s net, as opposed to the opposition players.

The youthful trio of Kenedy, Bertrand Traore and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will not be initially exposed to a big-game environment, but they will be available to provide an injection of energy late on.

On the other side, Pochettino only makes one change from the team that disappointingly drew with West Brom. Dele Alli has been given a three game ban for punching Claudio Yacob and hence will miss the rest of the season. Son Heung-min replaces the Englishman and will be looking to use his enthusiasm and workrate to wear down an ageing Blues back four.

The visitors don’t possess a notable threat off the bench, so it will be interesting to see what the Spurs boss does should matters not be heading his way.

Next: Cesc Fabregas is auditioning for Chelsea FC captaincy

What do you think of the teams? Leave us your comments and predictions below!