De Zerbi says Tottenham's dire record at Chelsea 'more motivation'

LONDON: Roberto De Zerbi said Tottenham Hotspur will use their woeful record at Chelsea as motivation when they make the trip across London on Saturday.

Spurs have won just once at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League era and have lost 10 of the last 12 meetings between the capital clubs.

But they go into the match buoyed by Monday's 3-1 win at home to Coventry – their first Premier League victory this season.

De Zerbi, asked during a pre-match press conference in Friday, if he sensed any fear in his squad, replied: "No. I think no because I play just one game with Chelsea as Tottenham coach. Anyway, it has to be one motivation more. Not one more problem for us.

"What is the problem? We didn't play in the past for Tottenham and I was not the Tottenham coach in the last seasons. It is not a problem. We have already many problems and this is not a problem.

"I think it's not just this negative record. There are many, many negative records, but for me it's one motivation more.

"For the players, I want this negative record, they give us more motivation, more mentality, more energy to win a game, to play a good game, because we have the qualities enough to win."

Tottenham's bid for a first win at Stamford Bridge since 2018 are not helped by the absence of Destiny Udogie and potentially James Maddison, who marked his first start in 17 months with a goal against Coventry, but has since missed three days of training.

"In the first three days Maddison didn't work with us, I don't know if he's ready for tomorrow," said De Zerbi.

"Like I said many times, I don't want to take risks, because if you analyse this period of European football, you can see many injuries, not for Tottenham, for everyone. So if I can, I don't want to take risks to lose many players for many games." - AFP