Chelsea v Tottenham: Preview, predicted line-ups & team news

Chelsea go into Saturday evening having scored five against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge and won 2-0 at Everton a week later. Tottenham's last two results were a 1-1 draw at Manchester United and a 3-1 home win over Coventry, their first league win in a run that had produced three draws and three defeats. The home side sit fourth on 13 points from seven games. The visitors are 16th on six points, level with 18th-placed Coventry and ahead of them only on goal difference. It is a fixture between a side with a case for the top four and one that cannot afford another low-scoring afternoon.

Chelsea's home record is the foundation of the case for them. They have played three league games at Stamford Bridge, winning two and drawing one, scoring 11 goals at an average of 3.7 per game, according to the season stats. They have also conceded six in those games, so the defence has not been secure, and the 2-2 draw on 12 September is the blemish.

Over their last seven league games Chelsea have averaged 2.43 goals for and 1.86 against, with an expected goals figure of 1.41 for and 1.52 against. That underlines how open their matches have been: five of the seven produced both-team scoring and six went over 2.5 goals. Their away form is weaker (two wins and two defeats from four), but the home numbers are clearly better.

Tottenham arrive with the worst attack of the two by a wide margin. They have scored six goals in seven league games, an average of 0.9, and one in three away matches. Four of the seven have ended with no goal for them, and the expected goals figure of 1.07 per game over that period suggests the shortage of chances is real rather than bad luck.

However, they are harder to beat than the table suggests. They have kept two clean sheets, drawn three and lost three, and they hold 59.9% possession on average. The 3-1 win over Coventry on Monday, their biggest of the season, gave them a first victory since the opening weeks and a reason to expect more. Their late-goal habit also matters: three of their six goals have come between the 76th and 90th minutes.

Chelsea's last seven league results read four wins, one draw and two defeats, with the defeats at Brentford (3-0) and Arsenal (2-1) both away from home. Tottenham's read one win, three draws and three defeats, and the win, 3-1 against Coventry, is the only game in the sequence in which they scored more than twice. The surface picture favours the hosts clearly. The wrinkle is that Chelsea's results have been volatile, with an average of 1.52 expected goals against per game, which suggests they will concede chances to a Tottenham side that has had 59.9% of the ball on average. Tottenham's attack has been poor, though, with 3.86 shots on target per game against Chelsea's 5.57.

Chelsea are fourth with 13 points from seven games, three behind third-placed Brighton on 16 and one ahead of Liverpool, who are fifth on 12. Manchester City lead the table on 21 points with a 100% record, so a Chelsea win would keep them in the Champions League places and in touch with the chasing group. A defeat would let Liverpool and the three sides on 10 points close in.

Tottenham are 16th on six points from seven games, seven behind Chelsea. They are level on points with 18th-placed Coventry, who sit in the relegation zone, and Nottingham Forest, who have six points from eight games. A loss would leave them reliant on goal difference (minus four) to stay out of the bottom three. A point would be a respectable return given their away goals record, and a win would take them to nine points and into the top half of the table's lower reaches.

Chelsea have won seven of the last 10 meetings, Tottenham two and one ended in a draw, according to the supplied head-to-head summary. Those games have averaged 3.0 goals, with both teams scoring in 50% and more than 2.5 goals in 50%. The last meeting was a friendly at Accor Stadium in Sydney on 1 August 2026, which Tottenham won 2-1. The last competitive game was at Stamford Bridge on 19 May 2026, when Chelsea won 2-1.

The rivalry has been tight rather than one-sided in recent years. Chelsea's most recent win at Stamford Bridge was by one goal, and the previous four league meetings produced margins of one goal each time, including a 4-3 away win for Chelsea in December 2024. A one-goal margin is the most likely outcome again, which favours a narrow Chelsea win over a wide one. The 50% rates for both-team scoring and over 2.5 goals suggest those markets are close to a coin toss on history alone, though this season's numbers lean further towards goals for Chelsea's matches (six of seven over 2.5) than Tottenham's (three of seven).

The widest gap is in scoring. Chelsea average 2.43 goals per game over their last seven league matches against Tottenham's 0.86, and their shots on target figure is 5.57 against 3.86. Tottenham have had more possession (59.9% to 48.6%), but they have turned it into fewer chances, which indicates a side that circulates the ball without penetrating.

The second gap is in clean sheets and failure to score. Tottenham have failed to score in four of seven league games, Chelsea in one. Chelsea's weakness is at the other end, where they have kept one clean sheet in seven and concede 1.86 goals per game. That means Tottenham could get a chance, particularly through the late-goal pattern that has produced half of their league goals. Corners are close: Tottenham average 6.57 for and Chelsea concede 5.43, while Chelsea average 5.86 for and Tottenham concede 4.43.

Kick-off at Stamford Bridge is at 17:30 BST on Saturday 24 October 2026. A UK broadcaster has not been confirmed for this fixture yet, and this page will be updated closer to kick-off once the channel is announced. Highlights are normally shown on Match of the Day.

The strongest angle is Chelsea's goal output at home. The 11 goals in three league games at Stamford Bridge and Tottenham's failure to score in four of seven suggest a home win with at least two goals, rather than a tight game. The both-teams-to-score price is short at 1/2, but Tottenham's late-goal profile keeps it live. The picks below start with the result and move into goals and scorers.