Chelsea welcome rivals Tottenham Hotspur to Stamford Bridge on Sunday as two of the Premier League’s heavyweights meet in the biggest game of the season so far.
Both of the London sides got their Premier League campaigns off to a winning start – Spurs were far more convincing with a 4-1 in against Southampton while Thomas Tuchel’s Blues squeezed past Frank Lampard’s Everton, with a 1-0 win at Goodison Park thanks to a Jorginho penalty.
The early season clash between the two sides, who will both have aspirations of closing the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool, will be a good indicator to see whether either team can mount a serious title challenge.
Ahead of Sunday’s mouth-watering clash, HITC Sport has put together a Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur combined XI which controversially features none of Conte’s summer signings.
Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur combined XI
Picking between Champions League and African Cup of Nations winner Edouard Mendy, and World Cup winner Hugo Lloris was always going to be difficult.
But while the former Rennes stopper suffered a drop off in form last season we’ve gone with the Senegalese international purely because we believe he’ll get back to his best form this season.
Chelsea dominate the backline with four of the back five coming from the west London outfit.
Keeping Ben Chilwell and Reece James fit will be crucial in Tuchel’s quest for honours this season.
Spurs’ wing-back signings Ivan Perisic and Djed Spence could become key parts of Conte’s side but they’ve got a long way to go to be put in the same breath as the influential Chelsea duo.
The seemingly ageless Thiago Silva slots in at the heart of the defence with the 37-year-old Brazilian being supported by the pace, aggression and quality of Kalidou Koulibaly and Cristian Romero who have both moved to the Premier League after plying their trade in Serie A.
Conte’s Spurs look a far more solid and robust outfit with the physical Argentine Romero getting them on the front foot, while former Napoli star and Mendy’s international teammate Koulibaly will be hoping to carry the same aura and dominance as former Blues centre-back Antonio Rudiger.
No matter what side you’re picking – if N’Golo Kante is fit you can always make room for the tenacious and energetic Frenchman who continues to do a wonderful job screening and protecting the defence with his tireless running.
Partnering the former Leicester City ace in midfield is former Juventus man Rodrigo Bentancur who moved to Tottenham on the last day of the January transfer window and has hit the ground running in the Premier League.
The Uruguayan’s arrival was a decisive factor in Tottenham pipping Arsenal to fourth-place last season and securing Champions League football, and after having a full pre-season under his belt with Conte – the South American is only going to get better this season.
There is a wealth of attacking options to fill the front three positions, but realistically Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane are nailed on starters given the consistency and quality they bring year in, year out.
With the likes of Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Raheem Sterling and Dejan Kulusevski vying for the final spot we’ve decided to go with the former Manchester City and Liverpool man Sterling.
Swedish superstar Kulusevski should feel hard done by considering he’s scored six goals and provided nine assists from 19 Premier League games since making the move from Juve with Bentancur.
But how can you not go with Sterling who has won the Premier League four times and constantly scored goals under Pep Guardiola whether he was in or out of the side.
The England international scored 17 goals across all competitions last season and has 109 Premier League goals to his name at the age of 27.
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