Chelsea vs Tottenham is back on Saturday 24 October at Stamford Bridge, and I can't remember the two clubs arriving in such different moods. Xabi Alonso's Chelsea were sixth after six rounds, scoring freely and conceding almost as freely. Roberto De Zerbi's Tottenham were 19th and still waiting for a league win when the October international break came round. Kick-off is 17:30 in London, 12:30 pm on the US East Coast and 22:00 in India.
Chelsea
Tottenham HotspurSpurs fans looking for comfort will have to go digging in the history books. There is some in there, if you dig far enough.
Where this rivalry got its edge
The fixture is older than almost everyone who'll watch it, but the modern edge dates from 20 May 1967, when Tottenham beat Chelsea 2-1 in the first all-London FA Cup final, in front of 100,000 at Wembley.
For long stretches after that, it was mostly Chelsea. They won 6-1 at White Hart Lane in December 1997, still their biggest win in the series, and Stamford Bridge became a ground where Spurs just didn't win. When Tottenham finally won 3-1 there on 1 April 2018, it was their first win at the Bridge in 28 years.
Tottenham have had their nights. A 5-1 win at White Hart Lane in a 2002 League Cup tie still gets brought up in north London, and in the 2008 League Cup final at Wembley they beat Chelsea 2-1 after extra time to lift a trophy at their neighbours' expense.
Then there's the Battle of the Bridge on 2 May 2016, which is the one most people reach for first. Tottenham needed to win to keep their title hopes going, led 2-0 at half-time and got pegged back to 2-2. The draw handed the league to Leicester City, and the second half is remembered far more for the Spurs bookings than for anything resembling football.
Chelsea had their own strange one in November 2023, winning 4-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against a home side that finished with nine men. Nicolas Jackson scored a hat-trick.
Stamford Bridge, London. Photo: Michal Lenc, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The most recent meeting was Chelsea's 2-1 home win on 19 May 2026. Up to that game the all-competitions record read 181 meetings: 83 Chelsea wins, 43 draws and 55 for Tottenham. Chelsea had also won the north London leg in November 2025, so they did the double last season.
Two very different summers
Chelsea appointed Alonso on 1 July and spent heavily. Morgan Rogers came from Aston Villa, along with Marco Palestra, Maxence Lacroix, Geovany Quenda and goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, while Enzo Fernández went the other way to Manchester City. Last season ended in tenth, so there's no European football this term. Alonso gets a clear week to prepare for most league games, which plenty of coaches in the top half would envy.
Tottenham spent 2025/26 trying to stay up. Thomas Frank was sacked in February, Igor Tudor's interim spell lasted 44 days, and De Zerbi arrived at the end of March as the third coach of the season. Spurs finished 17th, two points clear of West Ham. The summer brought in Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Sávio, Jan Paul van Hecke and Andy Robertson, and took away club captain Cristian Romero, who joined Atlético Madrid.
| # | Team | P | GD | Pts | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 |  Chelsea | 7 | 4 | 13 | WWLDL |
| 16 |  Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | -4 | 6 | WDLDD |
Chelsea score, and so does everyone against them
Fifteen scored and 13 conceded in six league games. Great if you're neutral. Less relaxing if you're a Chelsea fan.
They won 3-2 at Fulham, 4-3 against Brighton and 5-1 against Bournemouth on 10 October, but lost 2-1 at Arsenal and 3-0 at Brentford and drew 2-2 with promoted Hull City. João Pedro leads the scoring with five league goals and Rogers has four. Jordan Henderson, of all people, scored twice against Bournemouth.
Spurs have the opposite problem: three goals in six games, three draws and three defeats, including a 3-0 loss at Brentford and a 3-2 home defeat to Aston Villa. Dominic Solanke's stoppage-time equaliser at Old Trafford on 10 October earned a point, but Rodrigo Bentancur was sent off in the same game, and whether he plays here depends on how long the ban turns out to be.
Both sides play once more first. Chelsea go to Everton on 17 October, and Spurs host Coventry City on Monday 19 October, which leaves De Zerbi two fewer days of rest than Alonso.
How I see Chelsea vs Tottenham going
Chelsea have scored in all three home league games so far, and Spurs have struggled to create chances, never mind finish them. The worry for Alonso is his defence, which has leaked goals to sides with far less quality than this Spurs squad, so I wouldn't put money on a clean sheet. De Zerbi's teams like to build from the back and take risks on the ball, and a Chelsea press led by Rogers and João Pedro will be very happy about that.
I'll say Chelsea 3-1, with goals at both ends and another uncomfortable week for De Zerbi.
Watching the London derby
ChelseaTottenham HotspurYou can watch it free on DAMITV in HD without signing up. Our Premier League streams page lists every game of the weekend, and the Chelsea live stream and Tottenham live stream hubs go live before kick-off. Earlier that day Manchester City are at Villa Park, and our Aston Villa vs Man City preview covers that one.
Team news and the confirmed line-ups appear on Chelsea's official website about an hour before kick-off.
