Chelsea vs Tottenham: Three things to look for against Nuno’s Spurs
Chelsea has started the season strongly with four wins and a draw against Liverpool. Record signing Romelu Lukaku has been nothing short of world-class as he seems to be the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle. On the other hand, Spurs have added some exciting names to their squad this summer, and their start in the league has been decent as well, except for the weird loss against Crystal Palace. The game should be an exciting watch as both sides line up to take three points. Here’s a look at the things to look for!
1. More intent in the final third
Chelsea Football Club has one of the most stacked attacks in the world. The Blues boast of having more than six forwards in the current system that have significantly different profiles. The vicious left football of Ziyech, the work rate of Werner, the calmness of Havertz, the tenacity of Mount, the directness of Pulisic, the talent of Hudson-Odoi, or the brutality of Lukaku. The Blues have everything in the store. However, Chelsea’s attack never looked settled last season as they struggled to find the fluidity, the incisiveness in the final third. With the signing of Lukaku, the Stamford Bridge faithful expected the attacking play to improve by miles. While Lukaku has hit the ground running with some brilliant goals, the game against Zenit was a reminder that Chelsea needs to do more in the final third. More often than not, the blues have shown poor decision making in front of the goal.
Tuchel’s men controlled proceedings against Zenit as they ended up with 67% possession and 91% pass accuracy. However, the attack failed to pose any concrete threat as they ended with 0 big chances created. Lukaku couldn’t get involved as much as he would have liked, and he ended up with only 27 touches. This further shows that the wingers and wingbacks couldn’t overcome an organized Zenit and could not provide apt service to Lukaku.
The first step for Tuchel was to buy a world-class center-forward who could guarantee goals through the middle. The next step for Spurs is to find a method to make the attack click. With Lukaku’s introduction, Chelsea’s inexperienced attack seems to have found a trump card. At the moment, he is managing to produce goals from the small number of chances he is getting. When this attack does click, things will get very scary for defenses.