After a break time for FIFA day, the Premier League began to enter the most important period of the season. There, Chelsea and Tottenham emerged as strong contenders to replace the forces Liverpool and Manchester City have dominated in recent years. This weekend’s Derby promises to be intriguing even on the bench as Lampard and Jose Mourinho both show tactical marks in the past part of the season.
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Live broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event at 4:30 pm, Sun 29th Nov 2020
Lampard’s greatest challenge
Chelsea have been in extremely stable form in recent times. They have been unbeaten in their last 13 matches in all competitions and climbed to third in the Premier League standings. In Europe, Chelsea qualified for the knockout stages two rounds early after a win over Rennes in midweek.
After the hiccups earlier in the season, it seems that Frank Lampard has found the best squad for him. Rookie Timo Werner is comfortably operating on the left wing corridor, ceding the centre-forward position to a striker in better shape than Tamy Abraham. This maximizes the speed qualities of the German striker. But that wasn’t Lampard’s only tactical point. Returning Kante to the middle circle and playing with more defensive duties or staying Hakim Ziyech in the defensive midfield deflected off the wing helped Chelsea to be more coherent in their tackles. On the other hand, when he loses the ball, Kante will be willing to rush to contest the 2nd ball, which we do not see the effectiveness coming from Jorginho’s position.
But it must be said that the Blues’ uplifting streak is somewhat easy when they do not have to meet any team considered big man. Lampard’s system is being used to be effective against small teams, defensively and without people who are good enough to deploy dangerous counterattacks. Welcoming Tottenham at home in this weekend’s game will be a chance for Lampard to prove more of Chelsea’s ambitions this season.
Mourinho and the season 2 effect
“Forget Mourinho’s so-called second season away and look at Porto in 2004” is what Mourinho told his students during the half-time break with Manchester City. And the results must have been known by many. Spurs won by two goals thanks to razor-sharp counterattacks. Mourinho may be obsolete, but he remains a master of human heart.
Tottenham has a literally explosive season. Against big rivals, they played solidly on the home side, disciplined in tactical positioning and Mourinho’s specialty remained unstoppable counterattacks. Mourinho’s biggest mark so far has been pulling Harry Kane closer to the centre circle and creating opportunities for wing-backs Son and maybe Bale. This has created a lot of embarrassment for Tottenham’s opponents and they often exploit this to get goals of their own.
Mourinho’s so-called second-season effect still seems to be inexperienced. History shows that any mourinho team will have the title in his second season on the coaching bench. And at the moment Mourinho’s Tottenham is playing very well in form and leading the Premier League table convincingly. Talking about the Premier League this season with Tottenham may seem premature but the hope has been far greater for Spurs supporters.
Prediction: 1-1
Impossible starting linve-up
Chelsea: Mendy; James, Silva, Zouma, Chilwell; Kante, Kovacic, Mount; Ziyech, Abraham, Werner.
Tottenham: Lloris; Aurier, Rodon, Dier, Reguilon; Hojberg, Sissoko, Ndombele; Bergwijn, Kane, Son.
👉Live broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event at 4:30 pm, Sun 29th Nov 2020
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