Tottenham Hotspur could confirm their spot in next year’s Premier League — and trigger West Ham’s relegation — if they can earn an historic away win Tuesday at a Chelsea.
After a miserable winless run of 2 1/2 months, Spurs (9-16-11, 38 points) have taken eight points in five league games since the March 31 appointment of manager Roberto De Zerbi. They are unbeaten in their last four matches.
Six different players have scored during those four matches — away wins at Wolverhampton and Aston Villa, and home draws to Brighton and Leeds. Tottenham has climbed back above the West Ham (36 points) with a match in hand.
An conceded penalty kept Mathys Tel’s 50th-minute strike from being a match winner in a 1-1 draw with Leeds. De Zerbi believes his side will carry confidence into the match at Chelsea, where they were last victorious in 2018.
“In the last four we made eight points,” De Zerbi said. “And if you analyze the performance, I think we could make more points than eight, and for that we have to be confident, be positive.”
Former Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher was one of those six goal scorers, contributing the opener in a 2-1 win against Aston Villa on May 3. He’ll be making his first appearance at Chelsea since moving to Atletico Madrid for the 2024-25 season.
The Blues (13-13-10, 49 points) come in off Saturday’s 1-0 FA Cup Final defeat to Manchester City, followed by Sunday’s promising announcement that legendary former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso will take over as permanent manager next season.
The loss to Manchester City, which was decided by Antoine Semenyo’s brilliant back-heel goal, prevented Chelsea from directly qualifying for a European place. But they could still pull even on points with Brentford for eighth place and a Europa Conference league berth with a victory to set up a dramatic final day.
Center back Levi Colwill’s recovery from an August ACL surgery has helped steady a back line that has only conceded twice in two matches, drawing at Liverpool 1-1 in the Blues’ last league fixture on May 9.
But interim manager Calum McFarlane admits he will think carefully about whether to give the 23-year-old England international a second appearance in four days.
“We need to be careful with Levi,” McFarlane said. “He’s obviously off the back of a very serious injury and has performed well in those two games. We’ll see how he looks today, how he reports, and we’ll make a decision on that.”
–Field Level Media
