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As last season’s runners-up and champions respectively, Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League clash with Chelsea this weekend represents the first heavyweight encounter of the campaign.

In remains to be seen if both sides can sustain the form they showed last season but with little love lost and bragging rights on the line, the London derby at Wembley looks set to be another thrilling encounter.

But what does history tell us about this fixture, what selection headaches do the managers face before kickoff and how will the referee influence the game? Football FanCast has the answers…

Head-to-Head

Rather incredibly, Tottenham didn’t actually beat Chelsea in the Premier League until 2006, which is why there’s such a disparity in their head-to-head rankings for wins, games failed to score in, goals and even win rate at White Hart Lane.

Spurs fans will be hoping the move to Wembley can provide better fortunes, although Tottenham have gone a long way to readdressing the balance in recent seasons, winning two and drawing two of their last six meetings with the Blues in the top flight. History tells us, however, that Spurs are always the underdogs in this London rivalry.

Injury news and likely line-ups

The overriding concern for Tottenham this weekend is the continued absence of their two first-choice full-backs, Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose, who offer the Lilywhites so much going forward – something that could have been instrumental in pinning back Chelsea’s wide players.

Accordingly, a 4-2-3-1 setup largely maintaining the side that beat Newcastle last weekend seems the likeliest scenario, with the exception of Eric Dier coming in at right-back for youngster Kyle Walker-Peters and Heung-Min Son replacing Moussa Sissoko in attack having overcome his fitness issues.

Chelsea, on the other hand, face a whole raft of selection problems. Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas are both suspended, while Eden Hazard remains sidelined through injury and Pedro and Tiemoue Bakayoko are serious doubts – although there have been Twitter rumours of the both returning ahead of schedule amid a crisis in midfield.

The less risky option (at least in terms of long-term injury problems) is moving David Luiz into the engine room to partner N’Golo Kante, which would see Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger complete the back three alongside Cesar Azpilicueta.

Either way, Antonio Conte has some huge decisions to make pre-kickoff.

Referee – Anthony Taylor

This derby has been a breeding ground for bad-tempered clashes and full-blooded tackles in recent seasons but the presence of referee Anthony Taylor suggests Sunday’s game will forcibly be pushed into becoming a far more disciplined contest.

Taylor ranked third throughout the Premier League for yellow cards per game last season, whilst finishing fourth for fouls per game and eighth for fouls per tackle.

In a nutshell, there’s a real lack of leniency to his decision-making, so scenes matching those at Stamford Bridge two seasons ago will be strongly discouraged from the off with regular blows of the whistle.

Interestingly, however, Taylor awarded a whopping ten penalties in 30 games last season, while just four of those ended in draws – hinting at a subconscious lust for settling games via the penalty spot.

According to reports in the Daily Mail, Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino wants to sign three more players before the transfer window slams shut at the end of this month following the arrival of Davinson Sanchez from Ajax on Friday.

What’s the word, then?

Well, speaking ahead of his side’s Premier League clash against Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday, the Daily Mail says that Pochettino said he wanted to bring four new players to the club before August draws to a close having failed to sign a single player this summer.

However, on Friday evening the club announced the club-record £42m arrival of Sanchez from the Dutch giants, but the Argentine boss isn’t finished there when it comes to new additions.

What did Pochettino say?

Asked about new signings, the 45-year-old said: “I want four players if possible but it is not easy.

“We need time to work. We always sign three or four, every season. It’s important to try to assess the players who have possibility to come.”

Who are Tottenham’s other targets?

The Daily Mail suggests that deals for Everton’s Ross Barkley, Southampton’s Paulo Gazzaniga and Celta Vigo’s Pape Cheikh Diop are still in the pipeline, but it remains to be seen whether they go through with the former in particular potentially in doubt after he suffered a serious hamstring injury in training.

Would those additions be enough to see Tottenham compete?

It’s difficult to say.

While Sanchez could be a regular in the back three that Pochettino has preferred in recent months, Gazzaniga and Diop would likely be squad players at best while Barkley could be out of action until December because of his injury setback.

After finishing second last season Tottenham obviously have a strong squad, but you would think that they would need to also sign a right-back or right wing-back to provide competition for Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker-Peters following the departure of Kyle Walker to Manchester City last month.

Whether they look to bring in further players that would be first-team starters remains to be seen, but they are in a difficult situation in some ways as it would certainly be difficult to oust any of their regulars right now.

Southampton will be looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the Premier League season when they play hosts to Watford at St Mary’s on Saturday.

Even though Saints are yet to taste defeat in their opening three fixtures they have won just once – a last-gasp winner against 10-man West Ham United – with the other two matches ending in goalless draws.

Mauricio Pellegrino’s men certainly lacked that ruthlessness in front of goal as they picked up single points against Swansea City and Huddersfield Town, and the Argentine manager may feel that he needs to make a change to his attack for the visit of the Hornets, especially seeing as this failure to find the net has carried on from the end of last season.

Despite some impressive performances during pre-season, Sofiane Boufal is yet to start for the club in the top flight so far this term, but he could easily prove to be the difference to help the south coast outfit avoid another draw this weekend.

Here are three reasons Boufal, who Transfermarkt value at £13.5million, must start against Watford if his side are to take all three points…

Midfield struggles

Right now the likes of Dusan Tadic, Nathan Redmond and Steven Davis aren’t doing enough for the side from an attacking point of view, and of the trio only Redmond has the ability to cause defenders problems by using his pace.

In that respect, Boufal deserves the chance to show his creativity and make a big impact – either in the number 10 position or out wide – otherwise Southampton could once again draw a blank against a side they know they should be beating if they are to progress and challenge for a European spot this season.

While there may be concerns that he won’t do his job defensively, he has already shown in his brief outings this season that he is willing to drop deep and win the ball back when needed.

He’s unpredictable

While he perhaps hasn’t made the impression he would have liked to since joining Southampton from Lille last summer, Boufal has certainly shown glimpses that he is capable of the unpredictable and it is just what Saints need right now.

His stunning long-range goals against Sunderland and Middlesbrough last season were spectacular, while he showed his dribbling ability by taking on a number of defenders before dinking an effort wide of the goal during the pre-season fixture against Brentford in July.

He will commit defenders

Southampton have found it particularly difficult to make a breakthrough when they have been faced with a number of defenders behind the ball so far this season, and sometimes you need someone like Boufal in the tiny pockets of space that are available.

The Moroccan can commit defenders and twist and turn with the ability he has on the ball, and that could easily free up more space for the likes of Manolo Gabbiadini – or even win the team penalties and free-kicks in dangerous areas – which can prove to be the difference between picking up one point or all three.

Do you agree, Saints fans? Let us know below.

The Vitality Stadium has been the scene of some classic Premier League games in its short time as a top flight football ground. Or at least some classic finishes.

This season, with the allotted five minutes of added time already played, Raheem Sterling’s shot deflected off a Bournemouth defender and nestled in the corner of the net. That resulted in pandemonium from the Manchester City fans in the corner, and a red card for the England winger who was booked for his celebration.

The goal went down as a 97th minute winner, breaking hearts of Cherries fans looking on, and while the game continued for another few minutes (John Stones entered the fray on 90+9, which must surely be close to a record of some sort) the drama had all but finished.

And yet, as stunning as that finish was, it wasn’t actually the timeliest breathtaking Premier League goal scored at the Dean Court Ground.

This is the Bournemouth’s third season in the Premier League, and the last two years have produced exciting, goal-filled games with another North West side in Blue, Everton. Last season, Romelu Lukaku scored four goals at Goodison Park as the Toffees beat the Cherries 6-3, with four of the goals coming after the 80 minute mark.

The season previous, though, was when the real thriller happened, this time on the south coast.

With the score at 2-0, the clock hit 79 minutes, and Bournemouth were staring a fifth defeat in six matches square in the face. But when substitute Adam Smith scored with a beautiful strike in the 80th minute, it wasn’t simply a just reward for a spirited second-half performance from a man who didn’t start the game; it was also a lifeline for a newly-promoted team whose stunning injury crisis had been a factor in their slip into the relegation zone in their first ever Premier League season.

It set up what we would normally call a grandstand finish: the home team, coming from two down to make the final 10 minutes of the game interesting in front of their fans who were fearful of what defeat would mean for their team’s ability to resist the drop.

They got their reward for their industry with just three minutes left of normal time; a Junior Stanislas strike seemingly sealed a point for the Cherries. What happened next both changed everything and changed nothing.

This was, after all, a team who were being considered relegation fodder by this point. Deprived of huge goalscoring threats in Callum Wilson and Max Gradel with long-term injuries, as well as record signing Tyrone Mings and captain Tommy Elphick depleting their defensive reserves. They had won just two of their 13 games so far and were joined in the relegation zone by Newcastle United and Aston Villa at the time, both of whom spent the following season in the Championship.

The problem with celebrating a last-minute equaliser – or indeed a ‘winner’ – is that you don’t really know if the game is going to end that way. Ask any French player on the pitch that night about David Trezeguet’s winning goal at Euro 2000 and they’ll tell you it was one of the best moments of their lives: when they celebrated the euphoria of having scored a goal in the final of a major tournament, they didn’t have to worry about holding out for the rest of the game, it was a golden goal in every sense. For Bournemouth, when Stanislas scored in the 87th minute, they didn’t have the luxury of continuing the celebrations of the equaliser – they had to defend three minutes plus stoppage time.

And there was to be a lot of stoppage time. Enough time for Ross Barkley to break Bournemouth hearts in the 95th minute of the game. And also enough time for Junior Stanislas to mend them again, scoring in the 98th minute, later than Sterling’s goal the other week.

Barkley’s goal changed nothing, in a way. Stanislas’ first goal didn’t prove to be the equaliser, but his second goal did, and the world righted the initial wrong. But in another way, it changed everything for Bournemouth. It might be an exaggeration to say that their entire season, and perhaps even their continued Premier League existence depended on it. But not too big an exaggeration as the next three games of the season announced that Bournemouth were here to stay in the big league.

Defeat at home to Everton might have denied them that. The next two fixtures were Chelsea away and Manchester United at home, but the euphoric feeling of coming back from two goals down to a traditionally big side thanks to what felt like two last-minute equalisers gave the Cherries the confidence to go on and record two victories in those games, and a third on the spin away to West Brom.

It didn’t just save their season – which was looking like sinking thanks in no small part to injuries and bad luck – but it made people sit up and take notice of the small club from the south coast. This weekend, both sides could use the same kick-start to their season, and although this game will be at Everton’s Goodison Park, and although it involves two teams still in the relegation zone, history points to it being a classic.

Maybe this time it’s Everton who need a goal to change everything.

It was a frustrating evening for Jurgen Klopp as he watched his Liverpool team fail to get all three points against Spartak Moscow in their second group match of the Champions League.

It was the first time that Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah played together this season, but their combined attacking flair was not enough to inspire the Reds to glory.

Coutinho managed to get on the scoresheet after the team conceded in the first half, but the end product was missing for the remaining 59 minutes.

Defending has been the Reds’ issue for a while now, and it was something that Klopp failed to address in the summer transfer window.

So far this season, the team have kept just two clean sheets and have conceded 18 goals in all competitions.

After the result in Russia, which gives Liverpool two points from a possible six, the fans took aim at Klopp for his substitutions and post-match comments, in which he said that his team were unlucky.

There were unlikely many punters who had a flutter on a thrilling 3-2 at the London Stadium last Saturday but in retrospect, it’s perhaps the result we should have expected, because it epitomises exactly where West Ham are at right now – vibrant and varied options in attack offset by intrinsic disorganisation between the back three and the two midfielders operating in front of them.

That may seem a harsh indictment considering the quality Tottenham have shown going forward this season and particularly on the road, winning all three of their Premier League away games with eight goals scored, not to mention the superlative form of Harry Kane who has netted eight times for club and country since the start of September.

And yet, all of Tottenham’s goals on Saturday were avoidable. Andy Carroll may have given away possession twice in dangerous areas but it still required just two passes to unhinge West Ham’s defence and midfield for the visitors’ first goal as smart movement from Dele Alli and Kane’s well-proven prowess were unattended by the back three.

The second goal followed a similar pattern and both came in a period of the match where West Ham appeared to be otherwise in control, while the Christian Eriksen strike that proved to be the winner was a consequence of focus lost after a Kane free kick cannoned off the woodwork. The Danish international, easily Tottenham’s best finisher from long range, was left free to find space on the edge of the penalty area.

To an extent, every goal in football is avoidable in one way or another. But in the context of a London derby against high-quality opposition that was always going to be tightly contested and actually saw West Ham finish up with more possession than during their 2-0 win over Huddersfield a fortnight ago, they felt cheap to give away. Tottenham netted three times within the first hour, without ever really hitting top gear.

Inevitably, the blame must fall on Slaven Bilic’s doorstep. Once again, perhaps a harsh analysis considering the differences between the two sides on paper, but the fact of the matter is that his West Ham side have a bad habit of conceding easy goals and being dogged by inconsistency – particularly at the back. Tellingly, the Hammers paid dearly for disorganisation against Tottenham after claiming four points from a possible six and recording three consecutive clean sheets across all competitions.

Considering the rift at the end of the transfer window, a poor display defensively did Bilic little favours. But it’s clear these problems stem back to him – West Ham conceded a whopping 64 times last season, the third-most of any side not to be relegated, and after shipping 13 in just six games already this term, those issues obviously haven’t been resolved. Bizarrely, Bilic declared during the final few days of the transfer window that he didn’t want another option at centre-half.

In many ways, that highlights the long-standing criticism of Bilic; tactically, he lacks compared to many of his Premier League counter-parts. It’s not just a question of defensive structure either, although that has done the most damage to West Ham so far this season; electing to bring on Carroll for the injured Michail Antonio after 28 minutes proved a prime example.

Many were surprised the towering centre-forward wasn’t included in the starting XI, considering how important his physicality was in the win over Huddersfield and the draw with West Brom. But it quickly became apparent that West Ham had worked on a specific game-plan to pressure Tottenham’s back three with the pace of three more mobile forwards playing in their familiar positions.

Rather than throwing on Andre Ayew, however, very much a like-for-like for Antonio, Carroll entered the fray, Javier Hernandez returned to being a square peg in a round hole out wide and ten minutes later, with the substitute getting caught on the ball twice, the Hammers found themselves two goals down.

That substitution made a structural change to the Irons’ set-up off the ball and the reaction of the players suggests it caught them all off guard. Sure, they’ve played with Carroll up top before, but suddenly the game-plan was completely different in terms of shape, pressing from the front and service going forward. The adjustment period cost them dearly.

However, there is always a flipside to the coin and what Bilic lacks in tactical knowledge and application, he makes up for in motivation and team spirit, something else that was evident on Saturday. We’ve seen West Ham capitulate before but his side dug deep to get themselves back into the match; they were arguably one cute push into the small of Carroll’s back, courtesy of Davinson Sanchez at a corner, away from finishing up with a hard-fought point as Tottenham struggled to cope with late pressure after going a man down.

Saturday isn’t the only example of the team clearly feeling motivated and playing for their manager, either. In fact, there’s atrend of West Ham putting in good performances – and their second half display against Tottenham falls into that category – when they know their manager is under pressure. After Dimitri Payet exiled himself from the first-team in January, West Ham went on a run of eleven points gained from five games, and after five straight defeats ending in April, the side lost just one, also winning three, of their final seven league fixtures last season.

Whether it’s Bilic getting the right reaction from his players, or the players themselves pulling together for the sake of their manager, the team always turns up when he needs them most. While that’s a fantastic trait to have, and probably what has kept Bilic in the job during those periods of increasing scrutiny, it explains the inconsistency we’ve seen from West Ham since the start of last season. Furthermore it’s not the kind of trait you can build a strong season on – rather, a campaign closer resembling Dunkirk.

Tottenham may be high quality opposition expected to beat the Hammers on paper, but everything about the ninety minutes on Sunday encompassed Bilic’s successes and failings as a manager, his tactical short-sight, his inability to organise the team defensively yet also the comradery and spirit he inspires within the squad.

With his contract due to expire at the end of the season and the east London outfit looking to become a top eight Premier League force at a bare minimum, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the board take a different route for 2018/19.

West Ham United midfielder Pedro Obiang has given the fans a boost ahead of Saturday’s Premier League match against Burnley.

The Spaniard has been out of action for almost a month with a muscular problem after suffering the injury in a goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion last month.

Now, though, the 25-year-old feels that he is ready to come back into the side for this weekend’s action having returned to training with his teammates on Wednesday.

While speaking to the Hammers’ official website, Obiang said:

“The injury is progressing well. On Wednesday, I came back to training with the squad so I will probably be ready to play this weekend.

“If we want to be positive, my injury happened at the right time because we had the break to take time and didn’t have to rush, because sometimes when you rush you can take another injury. So, we took time and now I’m close to being perfect.”

Slaven Bilic’s side had a tough start to the season as they lost their first three opening matches.

In that spell, the East London outfit conceded 10 goals and only found the back of the net on two occasions.

Since then, the team have won two, drawn one and lost one – a 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

As it stands, the club reside 15th in the table, two points above the relegation zone.

Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez has revealed that he enjoys playing alongside Alexandre Lacazette at the Emirates Stadium.

Lacazette has scored four Premier League goals since moving to the Gunners for a club-record fee during the summer transfer window.

Sanchez, however, is yet to score in five Premier League appearances this season after a stop-start last few weeks.

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The Chilean is widely expected to leave Arsenal either in January or next summer as his contract comes to an end, but the attacker has at least revealed that he likes operating alongside Lacazette in the final third of the field.

Sanchez told Arsenal Player:

“The two of us work well together. He’s an excellent player. I believe we have [a good understanding].

“We haven’t played that many games together but when we have, I like how he plays. He finds space and understands the game well. He is very talented.”

Arsenal will look to return to winning ways in the Premier League when they visit struggling Everton on Sunday afternoon.

A return of 13 points from eight matches has left Arsene Wenger’s side down in seventh position in the Premier League table.

West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic has insisted that ‘lack of effort’ was not a problem during Saturday’s 4-1 home defeat to Liverpool.

The West Ham supporters again raged following the heavy home loss, which came after dropping two late more points away to Crystal Palace in the Premier League last weekend.

Once again the London Stadium emptied before the final whistle, and it is understood that Bilic is on the verge of losing his job following a poor start to the campaign.

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The under-fire manager has admitted that the club are currently in ‘a very difficult situation’, but the Croatian has refused to criticise his players for a lack of effort.

Bilic told reporters:

“It’s a very difficult situation. It’s not the effort, we can’t talk about lack of effort today. The first goal is a counter attack and the ball dropped kindly.

“Our one player who was in front of the box didn’t react really well and then it’s hard to defend a counter attack. But now it’s hard for me to talk about.”

West Ham have only won one of their last seven in the Premier League, and currently sit down in 17th position in the table on nine points.

Former Everton and Manchester United boss David Moyes is the favourite to replace Bilic, who will reportedly lose his job at the start of next week.

According to the reliable Twitter user @ExWHUemployee, three West Ham United youngsters are to be named on the substitutes’ bench for David Moyes’ first match in charge of the club against Watford at Vicarage Road on Sunday, and Irons fans are impressed.

Despite the east London outfit’s struggles in the Premier League season – they currently lie 18th in the standings – former manager Slaven Bilic failed to give many of his younger players a chance in the first team, aside from Declan Rice.

However, it appears that as well as the 18-year-old, prolific forward Toni Martinez and other promising starlets like Domingos Quina and Martin Samuelsen could be handed a spot in the 18 on Sunday.

West Ham supporters were quick to have their say on the news via social media, and while one said it was “excellent news and encouraging”, another simply said “well done David Moyes”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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