Football / England Premier League, Saturday, 24 October 2026 at 18:30
Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur
Match Preview
This is one of those London derbies where the form book can be forgotten. Chelsea sit fourth after back-to-back league wins, while Spurs are 16th and only recently claimed their first victory of the season against Coventry. Tottenham have lost six consecutive Premier League London derbies, while Chelsea have won the last six league meetings between these sides. I expect nerves, hard tackles and arguments from the first whistle.
The card statistics are the main focus. The last five H2H meetings produced 7, 6, 10, 5 and 1 cards, averaging 5.8 per game. The three most recent meetings all went over this line. Chelsea average 1.9 yellow cards in the league, while their last ten matches have averaged 4.6 total cards. Spurs average 1.3 league yellows, but that figure rises to 2.8 across their last ten away games. Referee Chris Kavanagh has shown 4, 6, 4, 6 and 5 yellow cards in his five league matches this season, averaging exactly 5.0 per game. His figures across the last two seasons stand at 4.26 yellows and 23.03 fouls per match.
Chelsea are without goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez (6/0), midfielder Reece James (4/0) and winger Jamie Gittens (0/0). Defender Pep Chavarria (6/0) and striker Emanuel Emegha (0/0) are doubtful. Spurs will miss midfielder Lucas Bergvall (4/0), wingers Savio (4/0) and Wilson Odobert (0/0), attacking midfielder Xavi Simons (0/0) and forward Mykhaylo Mudryk (1/0). Midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur (6/0) is also suspended.
This derby has plenty of bad blood, the recent H2H meetings have produced plenty of cards, and Kavanagh has the numbers to support the trend.