Chelsea vs Tottenham LIVE: Premier League team news, line-ups and more as Richarlison starts for Spurs

Tottenham were also affected negatively by VAR in their last game, having a penalty not given by Michael Oliver as Bukayo Saka went up the other end and scored Arsenal’s second in a 3-2 win for Mikel Arteta’s side.

That was their first game in two weeks, and Postecoglou was probably relieved with the mini-break after his side were dismantled by Newcastle 4-0. Neither side is in great form and have shown they are also shaky in defence which means anything could happen.

Despite the pretty formidable record home record against Spurs, Chelsea’s form going into this game is far from convincing and should give Spurs fans hope they can get another historic win.

They had to produce a really strong second-half performance to come back against Aston Villa, and were then pretty unfortunate to get their last-minute winner taken away from them by VAR.

But there was no sympathy for the side in their previous game as they got battered 5-0 by Arsenal and got knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City in the semi-final the weekend before. There is no better way to get the fans excited again than a derby win, and the Chelsea fans will be dying for a result against Spurs.

Stamford Bridge has not been a happy hunting ground for Tottenham to say the least. They have only won once in their last 33 attempts, although the manager to deliver that win was Pochettino. It was a 3-1 victory in 2018, with Christian Eriksen and a Dele Alli brace overturning Alvaro Morata’s first-half strike, the only two players still contracted at either club that played in the game are Son and Davies.

Chelsea: Petrovic; Gilchrist, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella; Caicedo, Gallagher; Palmer, Madueke, Mudryk; Jackson

Tottenham: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Emerson Royal; Bissouma, Sarr; Kulusevski, Johnson, Son; Richarlison

The Argentine got sent off in Tottenham’s 4-1 defeat to the Blues, Postecoglou hasn’t had a problem with Romero’s attitude at all.

He said: “On reflection, when you look at the challenge he got sent off for, I’ve seen half a dozen since, so he may be paid the price for being who he is.

“I haven’t had an issue with his discipline all year. That game we started well, we were flying. I haven’t had a problem. If historically it was different, it wasn’t under my watch. He’s been fantastic this year.”

“Most of the boys don’t like to train against him. He’s a real competitor and I love that about him. Whether it’s training or a game, what you see is what you get with Romero.”

At 3-0 down against Arsenal, it looked all doom and gloom until Romero decided to try and take matters into his own hands to single-handly drag Spurs back into the game.

He scored to make it 3-1 and, despite Heung-min Son’s penalty, Spurs fell to defeat, but Postecoglou couldn’t have been happier with his centre-back’s initiative.

The Australian coach said: “He’s a World Cup winner and I’ve just got to get some of what’s in him into some of the others.”

Pochettino was not the only person eagerly waiting to face their former side, as Timo Werner was expected to make his return to Stamford Bridge. That greeting between him and the Chelsea fans was snatched away after he picked up season-ending injuries, and with Spurs yet to announce if they will sign the German permanently he could have already played his final game for the club.

He wasn’t the only casualty in their north London derby defeat with Ben Davies also ruled out for the rest of the campaign, and it has come at a really bad time for Tottenham as their Champions League push gets harder and harder.

Ange Postecoglou’s team produced a stirring second-half rally and yet with their faint top-four prospects nearly over, Kulusevski admitted they must become more consistent.

Time is running out for England players, such as Tottenham’s James Maddison and Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher, to impress manager Gareth Southgate and win a place in his squad for Euro 2024.

England will play Slovenia, Denmark and Serbia in Group C when they begin their quest to win the tournament in Germany this summer.

Southgate’s side topped their qualifying group without defeat and are one of the favourites to lift the trophy in Germany on 14 July, given their recent record in major tournaments and the outstanding form of their attacking players this season including Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden.