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Capital One Cup Final 2015: Early Preview for Chelsea vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Published by Bleacher Report on Thu, 29 Jan 2015


Tottenham Hotspurwill meet Chelsea in the 2014-15 Capital One Cup final after booking their place at Wembley on Wednesday evening thanks to a 2-2 draw at Sheffield United, winning their semi-final 3-2 on aggregate.More than a month remains until the pair will clash in London on March 1, but it's now that pundits across the nation will start casting their vote as to who will lift the league title this season.Looking ahead to the Wembley crescendo, let's break down each team's chance of lifting the Capital One Cup by examining recent form and the obstacles to come between now and the climactic final.Form GuideChelsea were far from being at their most prolific during the two-legged semi-final encounter against Liverpool, leaving it late before an extra-time header from Branislav Ivanovic sealed their 1-0 aggregate win at Stamford Bridge.The result was a positive response from their previous outing, however, having been beaten 4-2 at home by Bradford City and tumbling out of the FA Cup just three days earlier.It was during that second leg that striker Diego Costa caused a furore following allegations of stamping on two Liverpool players.Such claims were vindicated on Wednesday by the FA's decision to retroactively punish Costa, although Bleacher Report's Ryan Bailey confirms any suspension would see him return in time for the League Cup final:The Blues currently hold a five-point lead at the Premier League summit, but form has suffered an inconsistency of late, their once-unbeaten 2014-15 record having suffered three defeats since the start of December (Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Bradford City).Having enjoyed a pristine injury record in the first half of the season, it's now starting to tell that Jose Mourinho's men are suffering from fatigue as much as their peers, though the club will hope February brings more fortune.Tottenhamalso exited the FA Cup in the fourth round following last weekend's 2-1 defeat to Leicester City, their first home defeat since losing to Stoke City at White Hart Lane in November.Christian Eriksen has salvaged many a point for Mauricio Pochettino's side already this season. As Tom Collomosse of theLondon Evening Standard reported on Wednesday, his set-piece technique was once again at the heart of Spurs' success, netting either side of the break to lead Spurs to Wembley:Tottenham hold some bragging rights in being one of the two Premier League sides to have beaten Chelsea already this season, and their 5-3 victory at the beginning of 2015 was an odd result to behold.Spurs fans will undoubtedly cherish putting five past the Blues, but a 3-0 loss at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season acts as some form of equaliser.As Squawka illustrates, Spurs have relied upon a wide array of scorers to survive this season, but Chelsea still boast more goalscorers:On neutral turf, it's difficult to ascertain which of the two London teams will take more comfortably to Wembley, although just one loss in Tottenham's last eight league fixtures suggests Pochettino's men are improving.Both teams could be in far different veins of form come March 1, but a final of this importance is bound to leave some sense of logic and on-paper statistics by the wayside.What's to ComeMourinho's most worrying test between now and the March date at Wembley comes as soon as this weekend, with Manchester City travelling to west London in the hope of reducing the Blues' cushion.What's more, a trip to Paris Saint-Germain in the middle of February is a Champions League fixture which will require all Chelsea's might if their Champions League title challenge is to be kept alive.Mourinho's side have a record to be proud of when taking on the Citizens, however, as Eurosport points out:Both of those matches will see Mourinho exhaust his most valued players, but the English giants are lucky that the Premier League tests of Aston Villa, Everton, Burnley and Leicester City aren't so daunting.Those fixtures will give Mourinho the chance to rest certain stars as he sees fit, but the pressure of maintaining pace at the head of the league is one that must be carefully handled.Spurs, on the other hand, have to fit two European clashes into the month of February and play both home-and-away legs of their Europa League round of 32 clash against Fiorentina.If that wasn't difficult enough, some essential Premier League clashes against Arsenal, Liverpool and West Ham promise to impact the club's top-four hopes dramatically.FourFourTwo's James Maw outlines just what a tough list of matches lies ahead for the north Londoners:Pochettino will have a hard time in deciding on his priorities, with the Europa League in particular now posing a dilemma; does the Argentinian go all-out in all three contests and risk injury or sacrifice some assets in Europe'A trip to Florence three days prior to the League Cup final certainly isn't the kind of preparation a manager would desire, but such are the demands of a club hoping to compete for major honours.Read more World Football news on BleacherReport.com
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