Premier League: Palmer, Mudryk help Chelsea beat Newcastle 3-2
Jackson put Chelsea ahead after just six minutes as he improved inside the penalty box to guode a low drive from Palmer into the corner of the Newcastle net.
League leaders Chelsea will be wary of an unpredictable Tottenham Hotspur side when the two clash on Saturday night’s epic Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
Rival teams will be hoping that for the second time this season, Spurs can puncture the aura of invincibility of a side who seem to have no equals.
The hosts are very much the Goliath in this battle and it remains to be seen if Spurs can manage to derail the Chelsea juggernaut.
Chelsea
No European ‘distractions’ have worked to Chelsea’s advantage as the Londoners have raced to the Premier League summit in imperious fashion.
Six consecutive clean sheets, 17 goals scored and it is safe to say Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 has taken England by storm.
Fringe players such as Pedro and Victor Moses have been transformed into regulars while Eden Hazard has been revitalised into performing at a level he had thought was beyond him previously.
It doesn’t hurt to have clinical striker at the tip of your formation and Premier League top-scorer has done just that, finishing well week-in, week-out.
Do the Blues have any weakness? At the moment it would seem not, but David Luiz’s defensive qualities will always be in question, regardless of how many clean sheets his side may garner.
Captain John Terry suffered an injury in training this week and joins Kurt Zouma and John Obi Mikel on the treatment table.
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs are in strange space at the moment, the only unbeaten team in the Premier League but also having drawn four out of their last five games.
They needed to dig deep to beat West Ham last weekend, which perhaps sapped them of energy in midweek against Monaco, ending their Champions League aspirations abruptly.
Pochettino has experimented with three defenders against Arsenal but should stick to his favoured 4-5-1 formation against Chelsea.
He rested key players against Monaco, which leaves no doubt that Saturday’s game is a must-win for the Lilywhites. There can be no excuses and anything less than a win would see them slip further away from the top four.
Spurs can take solace from the fact that they dismantled Manchester City at a time when Guaridola’s side were in a similar space as Chelsea are now.
Harry Kane has been banging in the goals on his return from injury, but he can’t do it alone and the likes of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli will need to step up with some brave performances.
Toby Alderweireld is still unavailable for selection, adding to Pochettino’s woes as Ben Davies and Erik Lamela are the other names on the casualty list. Crucially, Danny Rose will serve an one-match suspension which means that the visitors are a little light in the left-back department.
Super Stat: Chelsea have won more Premier League matches against Tottenham Hotspur than they have versus any other team in the competition (26).
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