Chelsea vs Tottenham preview, prediction, team news and head-to-head

• Over 2.5 goals

• Both teams to score

• Chelsea to win or draw

There is never a dull day at Chelsea.

The Blues were beaten in the FA Cup final by Manchester City on Saturday, and confirmed the hire of new manager Xabi Alonso on Sunday morning.

Interim boss Calum McFarlane will remain in the dugout for the Blues’ last two matches of the season, though, and will lead the team out for the penultimate time as Chelsea look to revitalise their push to qualify for European football.

Chelsea are six points adrift of Bournemouth in sixth spot, which will present a pathway to the top tier of European competition if Aston Villa finish fifth and win the Europa League.

Tottenham Hotspur will hope to win their first game at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge in eight years as they look to widen the gap between themselves and the relegation zone before the final day of the season.

A victory for Spurs on Tuesday will confirm their safety in the Premier League, also condemning West Ham to the drop.

Lose or draw, though, and the relegation battle will rumble into the final day of the campaign.

Chelsea have won each of their last five Premier League meetings with Tottenham, only enjoying a longer streak of victories against them between January 2000 and March 2002 (six).

Chelsea won the reverse fixture 1-0 in November, with João Pedro scoring the only goal of a one-sided game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs have only suffered more defeats in the Premier League against Manchester United (40) than they have against Chelsea (38).

They have also only prevailed once in their last 35 league visits to Stamford Bridge. That sole success was a 3-1 victory in April 2018 under future Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino.

Not since the 2001-02 season have Chelsea lost their last home game of the campaign.

That defeat 24 years ago came against Aston Villa, who coincidentally defeated Tottenham in the latter's final away match of 2024-25.

Chelsea Premier League form: 🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥🟧

Chelsea form (all competitions): 🟥🟥🟩🟥🟧🟥

Tottenham form (all competitions): 🟥🟥🟧🟩🟩🟧

Joao Pedro appears to be an injury-doubt for this match after he hurt his leg in the first half and played through the pain before being forcibly withdrawn in the 86th minute.

Jesse Derry (head), Estevao Willian (hamstring), Jamie Gittens (thigh) and the banned Mykhaylo Mudryk are guaranteed to miss.

In brighter news, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho and Robert Sanchez were all involved on Saturday after recovering from their own issues.

Romeo Lavia (knock) is a fresh doubt for the contest too, and McFarlane also hinted that he could spare Levi Colwill, who has made successive starts following his ACL recovery.

Tottenham's James Maddison made his first appearance of the season against Leeds after his lengthy ACL recovery.

Xavi Simons (knee), Dominic Solanke (hamstring), Ben Davies (ankle), Wilson Odobert (knee), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), Mohammed Kudus (thigh) and Cristian Romero (knee) are out of contention for the visitors.

However, Guglielmo Vicario is back from a hernia and will push the in-form Antonin Kinsky for a starting spot.

Chelsea: Sanchez; Fofana, Chalobah, Hato; Gusto, Caicedo, Fernandez, Cucurella; Palmer, Neto; Delap

Tottenham: Kinsky; Porro, Danso, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Palhinha; Kolo Muani, Gallagher, Tel; Richarlison

A derby clash between Chelsea and Tottenham will never fail to deliver fireworks, and, with safety in the top-flight on the line, this should be no different.

The Blues are wounded after a dismal run of form and their defeat in the FA Cup final, but will love nothing more than to beat Spurs and keep the relegation battle alive.

Whether they can do so is another question entirely. Tottenham are in rejuvenated form and will surely rally for this match.

We expect an all-guns-blazing, action-packed affair, but home advantage might just help Chelsea edge it.

Correct score prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Tottenham