Chelsea vs Tottenham
Premier League 2018-19
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Date: Wednesday, 27 February, 2019
Kick-off: 8pm GMT
Chelsea will look to shake off the disappointment of Sunday's EFL Cup final defeat to Manchester City when they welcome arch-rivals Tottenham to Stamford Bridge tonight.
Raheem Sterling's winning penalty denied Maurizio Sarri a trophy in his first final as Blues boss but the manager's astonishing row with goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga stole the headlines.
The Spaniard's refusal to leave the pitch as Sarri tried to launch a late substitution has been put down to a case of miscommunication by both the manager and player - but all eyes will be on whether the club's record signing keeps his place this evening.
Chelsea's performance at Wembley will have bought Sarri more time following a hugely difficult period in west London. Defeat to Spurs could undo all that good work, however.
Tottenham's hopes of maintaining a Premier League title challenge suffered an enormous blow after losing to Burnley on Saturday afternoon.
While Mauricio Pochettino has said the title coming to north London is now out of the question, he will be seeking an instant response from his side at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea vs Tottenham line-ups and team news
Chelsea XI: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso, Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Pedro, Higuain, Hazard
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Barkley, Loftus-Cheek, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi, Willian, Christensen
Tottenham XI: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies, Winks, Sissoko, Eriksen, Lamela, Son, Kane
Subs: Rose, Wanyama, Llorente, Foyth, Gazzaniga, Aurier, Lucas Moura
Score prediction: Chelsea 1-2 Tottenham
Sarri's gameplan almost worked perfectly on Sunday and will have bought him some more time at Stamford Bridge following those disastrous results against the two Manchester clubs.
But prior to the EFL Cup semi-final defeat in January, Pochettino had previously racked up three straight wins against the Blues.
