Chelsea Defeats Tottenham in Top 4 Race

Premier League week matchday 27

Chelsea and Tottenham are two teams eyeing a top 4 slot to play the Champions League next year. Chelsea protected home field with a 2-1 victory over their neighbors. The Blues maintain a three point gap over fifth place, now occupied by Manchester United. This season Chelsea won their two  meetings against Tottenham.

Tottenham and Mourinho fell to sixth place following the defeat. They are 5 clubs in the hunt for Champions League this year in England. This is one the most opened season in years in the League, which has bookmakers very thrilled. If you are looking for the best odds about the Premier League, find betting tips from Bettingmetrics.com is a great place to start.

Mourinho returns

The London derby at Stamford Bridge saw the return of Mourinho to Chelsea, a club where he had most of his success in England. Currently coaching the Spurs, Mourinho was the manager of Chelsea in two different periods, from 2004 to 2007 and 2014 to 2015. 

The Portuguese managers has won 3 Premier League titles, 3 League cups and 1 FA Cup in his tenure with Chelsea, making him the most successful manager in club’s history. He also added a Europa League trophy with Manchester United. Tottenham is his third Premier League club after he replaced former coach Pochettino earlier this season. 

Frank Lampard comments on the win: 

“I’ve got a good group here and performances like this should give a feeling for other players that aren’t playing regularly that they can come in and be the man and make a difference. That was a good thing for the squad.

It’s been a tough period for us at home. The last couple of days have been spent for me and for the lads finding the reasons why because we can’t keep saying we’re playing well and then lose games. A lot of it for me was mentality in both boxes, focus in every moment of the game, but the players gave me everything.”

Frank Lampard became the first coach to beat Jose Mourinho twice the same season and he gave “credits Jose for having that record,” Lampard said. “It’s nothing to do with me! We’re delighted to get the better of him but what an incredible record from him. I’ll take that but it’s all credit to Jose.”

Tottenham has to keep grinding

Tottenham has been decimated by injures missing two of their top players on the attacking front. The Spurs lost to Leipzig in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 and Mourinho must find solutions for his team. He commented on the loss:

The boys gave everything, I can’t complain. They gave everything for the shirt, for the Club, for the fans. I cannot be critical.

“We know that if the opponent scores before us, it’s difficult. The opponent knows that if they press high, we cannot go long because we don’t have a target, a player to connect the game and when they are winning and drop the block, it’s difficult for us to get through.