Frank Lampard and Antonio Conte set clear example for Thomas Tuchel before Tottenham vs Chelsea

Thomas Tuchel faces his first big six contest in his tenure as Chelsea boss on Thursday night.

The Blues make the short trip across London to face rivals Tottenham, knowing they can move about the north Londoners in the Premier League table with victory at Totnteham Hotspur Stadium.

Chelsea have an impressive record against Spurs in the Premier League, losing just seven matches in the 25 seasons since Division One became the Premier League.

The Blues are unbeaten in Tuchel's first two games in charge, drawing with Wolves before beating Burnley at the weekend.

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The rivalry between the two clubs is intense and the lack of fans inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium may make things a touch easier for Tuchel in his first experience of a London derby.

However, he has that incredible record to uphold, and not only that, but the record of previous Chelsea managers in their first games against Tottenham.

Given there have only been seven Spurs wins in the Premier League between the two sides, it stands to reason that many managers would have picked up a positive result in their first meeting with the Lilywhites.

And that is very much the case.

In fact, only one of the last nine Chelsea managers has lost to Spurs on the first meeting between the two sides.

The Blues did the double over Spurs in Frank Lampard's first season in charge, winning 2-0 in December 2019 to set the ball rolling.

However, his predecessor is the exception to the rule in recent times.

Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea went down to a 3-1 defeat to Mauricio Pochettinno's Tottenham in November 2018, with Son Heung-min scoring a wonder goal.

Antonio Conte, caretaker Guus Hiddink, now Spurs boss Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benitez, Roberto di Matteo, Andre Villas-Boas and Carlo Ancelotti all picked up a draw or win against Spurs in the first game between the London rivals.

Hiddink did lose 1-0 in his first match vs Spurs in 2009, but Luiz Felipe Scolari, Avram Grant and the first Jose Mourinho spell all started without defeat against Tottenham.

Tuchel has quite the record to uphold on Thursday night.