Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur Betting Tips

Saturday’s evening kick-off sees the two teams with the best defensive records in the league come head-to-head in a London derby.

Tottenham have been on a bit of a bad run recently with just one win in their last nine matches in all competitions. However, their form has shown signs of picking up in the Premier League and Spurs did extremely well to come back and win their last league match against West Ham despite being 2-1 down with two minutes to go – ensuring they stayed fifth in the table. Of course Spurs are still unbeaten in the Premier League but, as their striker Harry Kane said after the match, ‘it is no good being unbeaten if you’re just drawing games’. Perhaps this victory against the Hammers now means they have turned a corner.

Unfortunately for them, their Champions League venture is over as the north London side are already unable to qualify from the Group Stage despite still having a game to play. Although he denied it, Mauricio Pochettino’s side were not helped by having to play European home matches at Wembley. This certainly adds a new dynamic to next season when Spurs will be forced to play all home matches at Wembley, not just European fixtures.

Going back to this fixture, with the previously injured Harry Kane back in the side, Spurs have looked a lot better in attack – as shown by his three league goals since coming back into the team.

Unfortunately for every plus for Spurs there is also a minus as not only is their defence lacking the imposing figure of Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham also go into this Chelsea match without their two left back options in Danny Rose (suspension) and Ben Davies (injury).

Having a weakened defence is hardly what you need when you are going up against top-of-the-table Chelsea.

Chelsea are currently the Premier League’s in-form team having won their last six matches without conceding a single goal. Even though they have this amazing record in recent matches, it is odd to think that they have still conceded one more goal (9) than Tottenham this season.

Manager Antonio Conte has found a formula that works for his Chelsea side, utilising wing backs in the form of Marcos Alonso and former forgotten man Victor Moses, whilst his three central defenders help to keep everything tight. On top of that they have a sprinkling of magic in the attacking third provided by the likes of Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Pedro.

Not many had the Blues down as serious title contenders at the start of the season but if they can keep up this kind of form then they are in with a real chance.

Thanks to the recent run, Conte’s men will of course go into this match high on confidence and also as heavy favourites.

As previously mentioned, these two teams have the toughest defences in the league and so I cannot see this being a high-scoring game. Fortunately for punters there is a bit of value on the market in the form of ‘Under 2.5 Goals’ at 21/20. The defensive solidity of both makes this a standout bet, while, additionally, it gives you good flexibility on the result in what is likely to be a tight game.

Sticking with the low goals theme I also really like the look of ‘Both Teams to Score – No‘ at 6/5. With Chelsea’s incredible clean sheet record I am not sure that a rather laboured Tottenham attack, despite the return of Harry Kane, will have much joy against the Blues. Another important aspect here is that Spurs are without fullback Danny Rose who provides so much of their attacking play down that left hand side. That is a real loss for Tottenham and could have a big bearing on the outcome of this match.

Finally the Enhanced Odds offer from William Hill: ‘Diego Costa to Score anytime & Chelsea to Win 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1’, at 5/1, makes plenty of appeal. Again, given the fact this is likely to be a low-scoring match, I like the scorelines offered here and Chelsea should come out on top in the end. Also, having Diego Costa in the bet is a bonus. The Spanish international is in great form right now having scored three in his last three whilst he has also found the back of the net six times in six away matches this season – scoring in all but one of them.

See more Premier League tips here.