Chelsea vs Tottenham preview: Maurizio Sarri yet to decide on Kepa Arrizabalaga involvement

Chelsea head coach Maurizio Sarri is yet to decide whether to include goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in his team for Wednesday's Premier League clash with Tottenham (kick-off 8pm).

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Sarri says he will take the best decision for his team after Kepa was fined one week's wages for his refusal to be substituted in Sunday's Carabao Cup final with Manchester City, which the Blues lost on penalties, so Willy Caballero could come in.

Sarri believes the performance at Wembley showed he has his players' backing after a series of poor results, with the Kepa incident strengthening his resolve.

"Did you see the match on Sunday? So, you have the answer," he said when asked whether he has the support of his players.

Asked if he felt the support of the players was now greater, Sarri said: "Yes."

Tottenham go into the game on the back of a shock 2-1 defeat at Burnley, six points off leaders Liverpool and five behind Manchester City with 11 games remaining.

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Team news

Emerson Palmieri has been preferred to Marcos Alonso at left-back of late and could continue, with Sarri likely to stick by his first-choice line-up and resist changes.

Tottenham are still without Dele Alli and Eric Dier for the trip to Chelsea. Alli is on the comeback trail from a hamstring injury while his England team-mate Dier is laid low with tonsillitis.

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Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has no other concerns for the visit to Stamford Bridge.

Opta stats

• Chelsea have only lost one of their last 32 home games against Spurs in all competitions (W20 D11). However, that defeat did come in this exact fixture last season (1-3).
• Tottenham have won three of their last four Premier League games against Chelsea (L1), as many as they had in their previous 20 against them (W3 D9 L8).
• Tottenham are looking to win three consecutive league games against Chelsea for the first time since a run of five between March 1961 and September 1963.
• Chelsea haven't lost both league games against Tottenham in a single campaign since 1970-71.
• Only Arsenal (16 in 8 games) have won more points in Premier League London derbies this season than Tottenham (15 in 6 games).
• Chelsea have failed to score in three of their last four Premier League games. Their last three league games have produced a total of 15 goals (5 per game), with the Blues beating Huddersfield 5-0 and suffering 0-4 and 0-6 defeats against Bournemouth and Man City respectively.

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Merson's prediction

Well, the pressure is off Tottenham now so they'll be like the Harlem Globetrotters again. I don't know what it is, but there's something about them, where they get into a position to make things happen, and it doesn't happen!

This is not a fluke, this is quite worrying now if you're a Tottenham fan. At half-time against Wolves in December, if you're a Spurs fan you're thinking: 'We are right in this title race.' 1-0 at half-time and cruising. They then get well beat.

People were telling me: 'They're tired, they're jaded,' but they were 3-0 up against Cardiff in 26 minutes three days later. They then claw themselves back into the title race, go to Burnley knowing a win puts real pressure on, and they never look like winning it.

I'll go for a draw, but I wouldn't be surprised if Tottenham won it after Chelsea's hard work on Sunday.

PAUL PREDICTS: 2-2 (12/1 with Sky Bet)

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