Chelsea v Tottenham Bet Builder: Player stats suggest cards and tackles
Chelsea host Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday in a 4:30pm kick-off at Stamford Bridge.
With Liverpool dropping points at Brighton on Saturday, both sides have a chance to move top after both sides won 2-0 against Newcastle and Manchester City respectively last weekend.
The hosts are 21/20 to win, with the draw 13/5 and a Spurs win 5/2.
As I felt last weekend prior to their win over Man City, I feel Spurs are good value once again given they have a 100% away record with four wins on the road this season.
Chelsea like to dominate possession, which is when Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min tend to thrive as a lethal counter-attacking combination.
My strongest fancy in this game, though, is cards in what has developed into an extremely feisty London derby in recent years.
Since the two sides met five years to the day, they have faced each other 12 times in all competitions, with both sides receiving at least a card each in 10 of those matches.
Paul Tierney officiates the table-topping clash, and the experienced referee has notably aveveraged more cards per game in behind closed doors games. In his 10 Premier League matches since Project Restart, he has shown both teams one or more cards each eight times, averaging almost 40 booking points per game compared to a career average of a little over 30. I am more than happy to back both teams to receive at least one card, then.
Eight of Chelsea’s nine league games this season, meanwhile, have seen over one goal scored, with six of Tottenham’s also reaching that mark. I fancy both teams scoring here but will play safe by adding Over 1 Goal for Both Teams Combined to bring our Bet Builder above evens to 23/20:
Chelsea and Tottenham have received two or more cards against each other in 7 of their last 12 meetings, meanwhile, with Tierney showing both teams two or more cards in his last two matches. Backing Over 1 Card for both teams and Both Teams To Score is an attractive 10/3, while adding Tottenham to win & Over 1.5 Goals instead of BTTS brings it up to 10/1. This same bet landed for me in the Spurs v Man City match last weekend.
In terms of player card bets, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Ngolo Kante have both been booked this season and lead their respective side’s tackle and fouls per game charts. The Hojbjerg and Kante card double pays 19/1 with Betfair.
I’d expect plenty of tackles in a feisty London derby too, with the two holding midfielders making 3+ each in six of their nine matches this season. Serge Aurier has made 13 in his three starts, meanwhile, with Mason Mount making two or more in six of his eight starts. Hojbjerg, Aurier and Kante to make 3+ tackles plus Mount to make 2+ is 15/2 (Sky Bet).
Lastly, Harry Kane has assisted eight goals this season, making 9/2 for him to do so again (Sky Bet / Betfair) look massive.
