Both Tottenham and Chelsea have had an impressive start to the season and find themselves in 4th and 3rd place in the league respectively with just a single point separating them.

Incredibly, after almost a third of the season played, Chelsea join Liverpool and Manchester City in remaining unbeaten in the league, with Maurizio Sarri getting the Blues playing some fantastic football.

It’ll be interesting to see what tactical tweaks Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino can come up with to stifle “Sarri-ball” in order to give his side the best chance of getting a result at Wembley this weekend.

Likely line-ups

Tottenham have made a few changes to adapt to challenges presented by various opponents this season, with Pochettino favouring a 4-2-3-1 formation but also utilising a 4-3-2-1, along with some different variants of a three at the back system, and even using a 4-4-2 in the victory against Cardiff.

Despite this some things are almost certain - Harry Kane and Lucas Moura have started every league game this season, with Kieran Trippier and Toby Alderweireld only missing one game each (although Trippier is likely to miss out with injury), so it’s likely that trio will start no matter the formation used.

Sarri, much like his time at Napoli, has stuck with the same formation regularly, using a 4-3-3 formation, with an incredible seven players starting every game this season. The rest of the team is much less certain, although Mateo Kovacic’s involvement is likely to be kept to a minimum following his recent injury.

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Rampant Chelsea

While just a single point separates the two teams, it’s Chelsea’s record that looks the most impressive with an incredible 27 goals scored (2.25 goals per game) and just eight conceded (0.66 goals per game), compared to Tottenham's 20 goals scored (1.66 goals per game) and 10 conceded (0.83 goals per game).

Expected goals show that this is no fluke either, with Chelsea slightly over-performing with 27 goals scored compared to the xG total of 24.79, Tottenham also slightly over-perform, by less than a goal (0.87).

Both teams are also over-performing defensively, with Tottenham’s xGA a whole 5.46 goals more than they’ve actually conceded (compared to Chelsea's 3.12) - this could suggest that Tottenham’s defence is a lot more vulnerable than the scores so far have shown, which will certainly be on Pochettino’s radar.

Stopping Jorginho

Chelsea’s success can mostly be attributed to two players this season - Eden Hazard and new signing Jorginho. It’s easy to see why Sarri wanted Jorginho to follow him from Napoli, with the midfielder racking up some impressive stats this season; nobody in the Premier League has attempted more passes (with a fantastic 91.31% pass completion rate) and is the metronome that keeps the Chelsea midfield ticking.

Stopping Jorginho will help affect the supply to Eden Hazard as well - so stopping Jorginho is the key - but how should Pochettino go about stopping him?

If you haven't seen Patrice Evra's bizarre new Instagram post then you need to check out the video below...

Jorginho has averaged 108 touches per game in the Premier League, but in one game he was noticeably quiet - the 0-0 draw against Everton, during which Everton restricted Jorginho to just 60 touches, resulting in him being substituted (the only minutes he’s missed in the league) with 25 minutes left.

One of the ways Everton helped neutralise Jorginho was by deploying an age-old tactic - by having a man-marker to follow him around the pitch. This tactic isn’t something that’s regularly used in the top flight these days, but Everton made it work - with Sigurdsson the man tasked with following Jorginho everywhere.

Tottenham Chelsea Tactical Analysis

The above picture shows Jorginho coming across to help Chelsea in possession, with Sigurdsson following behind. Whilst the picture below shows Sigurdsson pressing and making the tackle a couple of seconds later.

Tottenham Chelsea Tactical Analysis

One interesting thing I noticed was that Sigurdsson would initially give Jorginho space, not snapping at his heels, which helped serve a dual purpose.

Firstly, it allowed Sigurdsson space when Everton had the ball, he’s obviously a key part of the Everton midfield, and having him so close to Jorginho would have meant his own creativity was stifled. The second reason Sigurdsson likely kept his distance was to create a pressing trap, to encourage Chelsea to pass to Jorginho and allowing Sigurdsson and the rest of the Everton team to then press him, hopefully resulting in a turnover of possession.

Stifling Jorginho wasn’t just Sigurdsson’s job, however, and required a complete buy-in from the rest of the Everton team, who also helped press Jorginho, whenever the situation arose, and Sigurdsson was the conductor, often signalling to his teammates when to press and gesturing for them to keep their shape (below).

Tottenham Chelsea Tactical Analysis

So, how should Pochettino use this to approach Saturday’s game? Personally, I feel that he should use the same tactic and have someone shadowing Jorginho. I also feel that creating a narrow midfield with plenty of numbers in the middle should help stifle and frustrate the rest of the Chelsea team.

Tottenham’s game-plan is likely to be hindered with injuries to Trippier, Davinson Sanchez and Mousa Dembele. who would all be likely to start if fit, but they still have the personnel required to play the formation I’d play if I were in Pochettino’s shoes - the 4-3-2-1.

Pochettino has used this formation three times so far this season, recording victories in all three (scoring six goals and conceding three). The central midfield of Victor Wanyama, Harry Winks and Eric Dier provides versatility with plenty of options in both defence and attack, along with the work-rate required to help cover the flanks.

Ahead of them, Dele Alli - who would be my designated man-marker in this system - and Moura will help put pressure on the Chelsea midfield while providing plenty of creativity for Kane.

Tottenham Chelsea Tactical Analysis

Summary

The bookies have Chelsea down as very slight favourites, which as a neutral is hard to argue with. However, if Tottenham get their tactics right they definitely have the potential to steal a win, which will be a big boost to their chances of finishing in the top four and landing a place in the Champions League - although no matter the result, I’m sure it will be an entertaining and tactically interesting match.