Chelsea vs. Tottenham predictions: Time to ask yourself what you believe

Chelsea and Tottenham face off at Stamford Bridge in a battle for fourth place. You all know the stakes and dramas and subplots, so let’s just make some predictions.

What’s the old saw about things being darkest before the dawn? Who knows how today’s game will go, but if you read through all of our predictions you’ll find that the negativity wears off by the bottom and a few of our writers are willing to predict a Chelsea win!

Tan Yi Hao: Chelsea 0 – 2 Tottenham. As much as it hurts to say that this is the ultimate definition of a Jose Mourinho game, games just don’t get any more Mourinho than this.

Underdogs away from home? Check. Lost the reverse fixture 2-0? Check. Opportunity to leap frog ex-employers into fourth place? Check.

Tottenham are most likely going to try to grind out a result away from home and Chelsea’s inability to break down teams who park the bus make them particularly susceptible to Mourinho’s Spurs, who will return the favor from December.

Olly Smith: 1 – 3. You could not ask for a worse game at a worse time against a worse opponent. Chelsea have been in a nosedive since Tammy Abraham limped off injured. Michy Batshuayi has been uninspiring at the best of times and now N’Golo Kante, who was so good against Spurs (despite STILL not playing in his best position!!!), is expected to miss a few weeks.

Add in that this is against Mourinho, that Lampard got one over the master tactician last time, but did so with a far different and far better Blues teams, and you can’t help but have a bad feeling about this one. But hey, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is in the squad finally and we might get to see Andreas Christensen with a face mask, which is always exciting… I wonder which colour he’ll choose…

Olaoluwa Nwobodo: 1 – 2. Chelsea did not have enough about them to see off Bournemouth and they did not have enough about them to see off Manchester United three times, which means they do not look like they have enough about them to see off Tottenham Hotspur a second time.

Perhaps Lampard has another trick up his sleeve, but I cannot see Lampard blindsiding Mourinho twice.

The first time these two played this season, it was an opportunity for Spurs to leapfrog Chelsea into fourth. Instead they ended up six points behind the Blues. Lampard’s men managed to make sure that for this next meeting they are in the same situation. Mourinho missed the opportunity once – don’t expect him to miss it again.

Barrett Rouen: 1 – 1. Seeing as neither team is any good and yet they both need something out of this game I predict neither will do anything useful at all. Chelsea to concede a mind-numbing set piece, and Olivier Giroud to score.

Nate Hofmann: 0 – 1. Chelsea’s win over Tottenham back in December was by far the highlight of Frank Lampard’s still-nascent managerial career. It’s worth remembering, though, that Spurs made a go of it late on, and probably should have scored at least once in the closing minutes of the match.

Unfortunately, even though Jose Mourinho’s best goalscoring options are unavailable, their remaining options still hold an advantage over a Chelsea defense that has undeniably regressed since that victory in north London.

The script is already etched in stone: Chelsea will repeatedly slam their heads into a wall, only for someone like Dele Alli to pop up with the only goal of the match, and Chelsea will finally and deservedly be dethroned from their top-four perch. Fingers crossed that Manchester City’s ban is upheld and fifth place qualifies for the Champions League.

Abhishek Pancholi: 2 – 1. Chelsea will pick themselves up, dust themselves off and somehow beat Spurs, leading to an epic touchline showdown between the master and the apprentice at the final whistle.

Varun Dani: 3 – 0. You know what? Enough with this negativity. Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s in the squad and everyone should be smiling.

Frank Lampard has teased a new Chelsea side, maybe with Old Man Giroud and three at the back, so expect vintage 2016/17 Blues, complete with a Marcos Alonso Man of the Match performance.

Scott Brant: 1-0. Chelsea will struggle to break down the boredom that is Mourinho’s parked bus. But at some point they do and Lampard betters Mourinho twice in a season.

Kevin Peacock: 2 – 0. Tottenham are depleted of strikers, as are Chelsea. The push for Champions League is building. Another six-pointer that sees Chelsea come out on top. It will be fine!