Chelsea will play their first Premier League home game on Sunday when they face Tottenham Hotspurs in a London Derby.
Chelsea and Tottenham recorded a win on the open day of the Premier League. Tottenham came from a goal down to beat Southampton 3-1. Chelsea also defeated Everton by a 1-0, they’re first in seven attempts, and Thomas Tuchel’s first win against a Merseyside Club.
Tottenham has scored the most goals in the Premier League (51) since Antonio Conte took over in November 2021. Son Heung-min and Harry Kane enjoyed excellent goal-scoring form under Antonio Conte last season with Son Heung-min haring the Premier Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah.
Last season, Chelsea defeated Tottenham four times both in the Premier League and the Carabao Cup semi-finals. Thomas Tuchel has revealed that Chelsea is ready to stop the deadly duo again on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.
What did Thomas Tuchel say about Tottenham attack?
The Chelsea manager revealed this at a press conference ahead of the London derby, saying: “We have to be very disciplined in certain regions of the game. They stepped a level up, they are playing the same structure but they have a pattern in their offensive pressing and defensive attitude. This changes a lot.
“It’s very important we’re good on the ball, the dominant team, and put the game into the opponents’ halves, and from there control the counter-attacks before everyone else sees it.
“They are one of the very best teams, maybe in the world, at counter-attacks. We did a fantastic job in closing it down [last season]. The players were unbelievably disciplined and aware.
“We can never lose our structure and our head while we are attacking. This is the moment to stop the counter-attack. If they start, you’re in big trouble, so we need to be smart and stop the counter-attacks before they start.”
The UK is currently experiencing a temperature rise and is expected to reach its peak over the weekends. The temperature is forecasted to be around 35 degrees when Chelsea faces Tottenham on Sunday.
Explaining how the temperature rise had affected their preparation for the London derby, Thomas Tuchel said: “We adapted our training session times to early mornings.
“We have some patterns implemented already to cool the body temperature down to improve the situation as much as possible, but it will be very hot and very demanding physically.
“We see clearly from the data the same training exercise in different conditions has a very different output and a very different effect on how you feel.
“It is also a matter of how much you want it because it will feel very difficult. It’s a question of who has the ability to play through the pain.
“I’m not at the stage the weather forecast influences my starting XI, but we accept this kind of heat has a physical effect on the players. In a stadium, it can feel even worse, so it will be quite challenging.”
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