Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur currently sit in fourth and fifth places in the English Premier League table, respectively, as the Blues have 29 points while the Spurs are closing in with 26. Chelsea has taken a dreadful turn as of late, though, losers of four of their last five. Now they head to take on a Spurs team that would love nothing more than to draw level with them at home. Chelsea’s last five EPL matches, in reverse order, have seen them lose at home to Bournemouth, of all sides; get routed at Everton; beat Aston Villa at home; take an inexplicable home loss against West Ham United; and take an understandable loss at Manchester City. The Blues need to turn things around if they want to remain in contention for the EPL title, especially given how Liverpool is running away with things at present. Don’t miss our sports betting preview of Sunday’s clash.
Tottenham vs Chelsea 2019 Premier League Odds, Game Preview & Pick
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- When: Sunday, December 22, 2019, 11:30 am ET
- Where: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
- TV: NBC Sports
- Radio: None
- Live Stream: fuboTV
- Soccer Odds: Tottenham 7/5 / Draw 13/5 / Chelsea 7/4
Why should you bet on Chelsea?
As we mentioned above, Chelsea has dropped four of five, including a 1-0 snoozer at home against Bournemouth last week. The match looked like it might turn into a scoreless draw, but then Dan Gosling tallied for the visitors in the 84th minute, and then Bournemouth held on against a big of an onslaught from the Blues. Given the paltry offense that Chelsea has shown as of late, the loss is not a particularly big surprise, but if the Blues want to stop their slide, they need to put up a spirited fight against the Spurs.
In that loss to Bournemouth, Chelsea outshot the visitors 18-11 (5-2 on target). The Blues held possession for two-thirds of the game and had solid passing accuracy (82 percent). Chelsea mounted plenty of pressure, generating nine corners to just four for Bournemouth. But when you don’t finish your scoring chances, then you leave the door open for a quirky goal to go in late, and that’s what happened this week.
Why should you put your money on the Spurs?
Tottenham Hotspur has had a major improvement in play since bringing in Jose Mourinho as team manager. The Spurs have won four of their last five, including a 2-1 win at Wolves last Sunday. Wolves have styled themselves as an up-and-coming contender in the EPL, and so Tottenham’s win was a bit of a statement. Lucas Moura got the scoring going early for the Spurs, finding the back of the net in the eighth minute. Matters were tied going into the locker room, but then Adama Traore brought Wolves level in the 67th minute. It looked like the teams would settle for a draw, but then Jan Vertonghen delivered the game-winner in injury time.
Wolves dominated much of the action in that game, outshooting the Spurs 19-9 (5-5 on target) and possessing for 58 percent of the match. Tottenham’s passing accuracy was fairly low (72 percent). The game was physical, featuring 24 combined fouls and eight combined yellow cards (four for each team). Wolves applied more pressure than Tottenham, forcing 11 corners to just two for the Spurs. However, Tottenham came away with a big road win and now has their eyes set on Chelsea’s fourth-place slot in the table.
Final Score Prediction
Tottenham is on the rise right now, while Chelsea is trending downward. Tottenham’s uptick has a lot to do with a fresh attitude among their top talent with their coaching change, while Chelsea has not shown much in the way of energy in over a month. Yes, they did beat Lille at home in UEFA Champions League this past week, 2-1, but they are not getting much from their attack right now in the domestic league. I see the Spurs rolling, 2-1.
