Tottenham Hotspur host Premier League rivals and defending champions Chelsea today at Wembley Stadium, the first Premier League home match for Spurs since they vacated White Hart Lane last spring. Spurs started the season last Sunday with a 2-0 win over Newcastle at St. James’ Park, while Chelsea endured a 3-2 home loss to Burnley, a match that saw them finish with nine men.

Lineups:

Match Date, Time and Location

Sunday, August 20, 2017, 11:00 a.m. (USA), 4:00 pm (UK)
Wembley Stadium, London, England

TV Channels

United Kingdom: Sky Sports
USA: NBC Sports Network
Canada: TSN
Australia: Optus Sports

Other countries can find their match listings at livesoccertv.com

Streaming

NBC Sports Live, Sky Go, fubo.tv (free 7-day trial)

Radio

Audio streamed at tottenhamhotspur.com (requires free OneHotspur membership), also often at BBC Radio London, BBC Radio 5 Live, and TalkSport

It’s a chance for Spurs to banish the Wembley Curse.

The last time Tottenham Hotspur played Chelsea at Wembley Stadium was last spring’s FA Cup semifinal. It was a match that ended 4-2 to the bad guys, but one that felt a heck of a lot closer than the scoreline indicated. Nevertheless, it was another bit of evidence to support the ridiculous “Spurs can’t win at Wembley” talking point.

Well, today is a chance for Spurs to start to turn that perception. Tottenham welcome defending Premier League champions Chelsea to Wembley, and for once it sure looks like Spurs should have the upper hand. The Blues are beaten up and have a number of players out either to injury or suspension: Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas miss the match after picking up reds in last week’s home loss to Burnley, while Eden Hazard, Pedro, and Tiemoue Bakayoko are all out injured. Of the latter three, Bakayoko still has the best chance to feature, but it’s unclear whether Antonio Conte will take the risk.

Mauricio Pochettino has his own risk to take. Kieran Trippier was assessed on Friday as to whether he’s ready to start at right back for Spurs for the first time this season since injuring his ankle against Juventus. If he can’t go, it’ll again fall to 20-year old Kyle Walker-Peters to fill in, and while he was good against Newcastle, he’ll face a much stiffer test against Chelsea.

Spurs would love a big win at Wembley to banish the “can’t-win” demons, start the season fast with two wins in two games, and give their rivals two losses to start the year, a result that could cause the champs to already start to spiral out of control. Goals for Harry Kane, Dele Alli, or Christian Eriksen would be great too.

Wembley’s capacity is 90,000, but there will only be 70,000 in attendance today, as the remaining tickets were general admission and the Premier League didn’t want chaos in the stands. That’s okay, the atmosphere should be charged: these two teams don’t like each other much, and there could be plenty of cards, as well as action.

COYS!

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