Hakim Ziyech had already beaten Hugo Lloris once. Twisting and turning and sprinting through the middle, he had caused problems from the very first minute. The clock ticked down on Tottenham’s faint hopes as Ajax’s most effervescent creator raced through on goal. Lloris made the save.
In the 18 months that have passed since Lucas Moura’s famous exploits in Amsterdam, it has been easy to forget that the night might well have belonged to another winger had Ziyech pinned his shot another yard to the right.
An awful lot has happened since then, not least the demise of Mauricio Pochettino and Ziyech’s own transfer to Chelsea. Whether he can exact revenge on Spurs will be one talking point ahead of a match brimming with subplots as Jose Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge hoping to prove his side are serious title contenders.
Completely untested in the 4-0 Europa League win over Ludogorets (the Bulgarians failed to muster a single attempt, let alone a shot on target), Spurs have only kept four other clean sheets in all competitions this season. Perhaps tellingly though, they now have three on the bounce, most impressively of all against Manchester City.
In this unpredictable campaign, Tottenham’s defence has been written off by some as the reason they will not be the surprise package who upsets the odds in May. And just when it looked as if Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld had formed a more settled centre-back partnership, the latter was sidelined with a groin injury.
The Belgian’s setback is not as serious as was first feared when he left the field against City, but he will still be a notable loss on Sunday when the likes of Ziyech, Timo Werner and Tammy Abraham put the north Londoners to the test.
How do Spurs stop prolific Chelsea?
Much has been said about Tottenham’s own potent attack and indeed, they have only been outscored by one Premier League team all season: Chelsea. The real test of their credentials will be at the other end, where they have kept one clean sheet in their last 17 games at Stamford Bridge.
Statistics like that are somewhat misleading given the time that has elapsed between some of those matches. More recently, though, Chelsea caused serious problems when the two sides met in the League Cup, Spurs somewhat fortunate to progress on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
This time, one of the key lessons they must learn is how to neutralise Werner early on. The Germany international, who has scored four league goals so far, has still not been playing to his full potential.
Davinson Sanchez, should he return in place of Alderweireld, will feel fate could not have picked a worse moment for him to prove himself to Mourinho following the defender’s errors in the early part of the season.
Yet he can feel encouraged by another redemptive performance of Serge Aurier in the City game and with Matt Doherty having played on Thursday, the Ivorian may start again. For all Chelsea’s attacking prowess, they remain vulnerable on the counter-attack and they find themselves up against the masters of the manoeuvre here.
With Aurier still liable to being caught out of position however, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s role could be decisive. Not only can he protect Sanchez by stifling Ziyech, he can snuff out attacks before they begin by overpowering Chelsea’s far from faultless midfield duo.
The Blues will relish the opportunity to prove claims of Tottenham’s title hopes has been premature. Yet if Mourinho’s men can keep them out, it will be less about settling scores and more about demonstrating that their own credentials are genuine.
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