On Sunday, the champions of Europe Chelsea FC will be travelling to North London with the hope of extending their unbeaten Premier League run. Chelsea’s well-drilled defense under Tuchel and the addition of Romelu Lukaku has made them title favorites. On the other hand, Tottenham lost to Crystal Palace after three victories at the start of the season. Tottenham-Chelsea is all set to be a thrilling encounter and in this article we will look at some key historic stats concerning the London rivals.
#4 Highest attendance – 100,000, 20 May 1967
Tottenham-Chelsea fixture usually attracts a lot of viewers, both on Television and the ground. Both have a fanbase rooted in history, and this paves the way for an excellent atmosphere. The highest recorded attendance in the history of this fixture came during their clash in the 1967 FA Cup. One lakh people attended the game, albeit in an era where supporters were allowed to stand. Spurs won the game after goals from Robertson and Saul.
More recently, 89294 people witnessed Chelsea beat Tottenham 2-0 in the 2015 League Cup final at Wembley. Leaving out Wembley, the highest recorded attendance in the history of this rivalry is 76000 on October 16, 1920 at Stamford Bridge.
#3 Largest victory – Tottenham Hotspur 1-6 Chelsea, 6 December 1997
The heaviest defeat in the history of this rivalry was imposed upon Tottenham during the 97/98 PL season. When Chelsea travelled to White Hart Lane, they were deemed as favourites, but nobody would have expected a thrashing. Norwegian striker Tore Andre Flo opened the scoring for the visitors, but soon Tottenham pulled one back through Ramon Vega.
But Spurs’ defense completely collapsed in the second half as Chelsea scored five goals. Future Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo gave his side the lead early in the second half, and Tore Andre Flo bagged a hat-trick. Tottenham too have won against Chelsea by a five goal margin, way back in 1920. Another intriguing fact is that Chelsea have won more away games against Tottenham than any other opponent in the Premier League.
#2 Top scorer – Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – 12 goals
Hasselbaink joined Chelsea in 2000 and scored 12 goals against Tottenham in just four seasons. He scored a brace in his very first game versus Spurs for Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge. In the same season, he scored the opening goal in the away goal fixture as Chelsea once again won 3-0.
In the 2001/02 season, Hasselbaink scored yet another brace in the home PL fixture. However, in the second leg of their League Cup tie, Hasselbaink was mistakenly sent off and Tottenham thrashed Chelsea 5-1. Hasselbaink avenged this defeat by scoring a hat-trick on 13 March 2002.
After Hasselbaink, it is Bobby Smith who has the most goals in Tottenham-Chelsea games. Smith scored one goal for Chelsea and 10 goals for Tottenham Hotspur in his career.
#1 Most wins – Chelsea – 73
Chelsea have a much superior win-loss record in this rivalry, with 73 wins and 42 draws in 169 official meetings. The rivalry was a fairly even contest until the 90s when Chelsea exerted their dominance upon their city rivals. Between 10 February 1990 and 23 January 2002, Chelsea did not lose a single game against Tottenham in 26 meetings.
In the Premier League, Chelsea are now unbeaten against Tottenham in six games. In its recent history, the rivalry has not seen a lot of goals, and the winners are usually separated by a one goal margin. Tottenham enjoyed their best spell against Chelsea in the early 1960s when they imposed five consecutive defeats on them.
