Wed 05 January 2022, 09:30
Tottenham HotspurWe face a huge clash this evening as we travel to rivals Chelsea for the first leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final (7.45pm kick-off).
Ahead of the game, here’s a look at all the key points of interest…
1 - Antonio returns to the Bridge
Tonight’s trip to west London will mark Antonio Conte’s first visit to Stamford Bridge since leaving his role as Chelsea’s Head Coach in the summer of 2018. Having led the Blues between 2016 and 2018, winning both the Premier League title and an FA Cup during his two seasons there, our Carabao Cup semi-final will be the first chance Antonio has had to take on his former side since departing the Bridge three-and-a-half years ago.
2 - Antonio versus the Blues
While Antonio will mark a return to Stamford Bridge this week, it will not be the first time one of his teams has lined up as the opposition at his former home. Back in the 2012/13 season, when the Italian was in charge of Juventus, the Old Lady travelled to west London in the September for Matchday One of their Champions League group stage campaign. That night, his side fell 2-0 behind with just 33 minutes played, however, they went on to salvage a draw late on with the contest squared up at 2-2 come the final whistle. Two months later, Juve hosted the Blues in Turin and comfortably ran out 3-0 winners before ultimately topping Group E.
3 - The first bout – Conte and Tuchel
While this match will mark the first competitive meeting between Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel as coaches, the pair have met once before in a friendly. Encountering each other on 27 July, 2019, with Antonio then in charge of Internazionale and Tuchel in charge of Paris Saint-Germain, the pair battled it out for the 2019 International Super Cup in Macau, China.
It was the Parisians that drew first blood in the game with Jan Kehrer heading them in front on 41 minutes, but Inter managed to take the game to penalties thanks to Samuele Longo’s last-gasp strike four minutes into injury time. The Italians then went on to take the silverware with a 6-5 win on penalties.
4 - The 2018/19 rematch
Just three years ago, we also met Chelsea at this stage of the Carabao Cup. First hosting our London rivals at Wembley, a Harry Kane penalty at the national stadium gave us a slim advantage going into the return leg – a game which was always going to be a tense affair.
Heading into the clash without Harry and Dele due to injury, while Heung-Min Son was on international duty at the Asian Cup, Chelsea raced into a 2-0 lead at Stamford Bridge with goals from N’Golo Kante and Eden Hazard. However, despite our depleted state, a change in system at the break – a switch to 3-5-2 – rejuvenated us and saw us draw level on aggregate thanks to Fernando Llorente. That goal took the game to penalties but, ultimately, it wasn’t to be our night as misses from Eric Dier and Lucas Moura in the shootout as well as a perfect run for Chelsea saw the Blues reach the final.
Highlights - Our 2018/19 Carabao Cup semi-final first leg
5 - Conte in the Carabao Cup
This tie marks only the second time Antonio Conte has reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup. However, in his previous appearance at this stage, things did not go according to plan. Making it to the final four of the 2017/18 edition of the competition during his time at Chelsea, his side were also given a London derby in the semi-finals as they drew Arsenal.
First hosting the Gunners at Stamford Bridge in the tie’s opener, the two sides played out a 0-0 draw. They then headed to N5 for the return leg a fortnight later but it was the men in red that came out on top as, after Eden Hazard’s early opener was quickly cancelled out by an Antonio Rudiger own goal, Granit Xhaka sent Arsenal through to the final with a strike on the hour mark.
In terms of the London derbies he has faced in this competition, Antonio has won just one of his three previous such ties and that came just last month as he led us past West Ham to set up our semi-final clash with Chelsea.
6 - League Cup semi-finals
We have a fairly even success rate when it comes to League Cup semi-finals. In our history, we have reached the final four of the competition on 17 occasions, winning nine of our appearances thus far (56 per cent) and falling to progress in seven of them.
In terms of taking on London sides at this stage, we have faced nine semi-finals against our local rivals, winning on four occasions (Wimbledon 1999/2000, Chelsea 2001/02, Arsenal 2007/08 and Brentford 2020/21) and losing the other five (Arsenal 1968/69, 1986/87 and 2006/07, Chelsea 1971/72 and 2018/19).
Out of our 15 two-legged semi-final ties to date, in nine of them we have faced the away leg first. Of those ties, we have progressed past five, including four of the last six and each of the last two – both of those encounters came with London rivals (Chelsea in 2001/02 and Arsenal in 2007/08).
7 - Our last Carabao Cup meeting
We last met Chelsea in the Carabao Cup just last season as we were drawn against them in the fourth round. Hosting the Blues at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 29 September, 2020, we came from behind to progress on penalties in a tightly-fought encounter. Timo Werner put the visitors ahead with 19 minutes on the clock, but an inspired performance from Erik Lamela helped us get back on terms late on, with the attacking midfielder diverting Sergio Reguilon’s square ball into the back of the net. Then, a run of perfect penalties from us in the shootout, as well as a miss from Mason Mount, saw us through to round five.
8 - Chelsea in the League Cup
Like us, Chelsea also have a fairly even success rate when it comes to their League Cup semi-final ties. This season is the 15th time they have reached the final four of the competition with them managing to progress eight times while they have failed to on six occasions. Although, historically, when the Blues have played the first leg of the semi-final at home, their success rate is far from even.
For the ninth time, Stamford Bridge will host the first leg of a League Cup semi-final and, of the eight to have been played there thus far, Chelsea have progressed just three times. Meanwhile, of their 14 semi-finals played in the competition to date, four of them have come against London sides – and it is honours even in such games. Having met both us and Arsenal in the competition’s final four, Chelsea have taken two victories (Spurs 1971/72 and Arsenal 1997/98) while they have also been defeated twice (Spurs 2001/02 and Arsenal 2017/18). Notably, they have lost their last two semi-finals against London sides.
9 - An unwanted record
In recent meetings, Chelsea have had the edge over us. Despite having won three of our bouts with the Blues on the trot between April, 2018, and January, 2019, we have not been able to get the better of the Blues in 90 minutes since – a run of eight games. We also haven’t scored against them in three matches, with our last goal against them coming in this competition back in September, 2020 – Erik Lamela scoring a late equaliser as we drew 1-1 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before going on to progress as we edged the penalty shootout 5-4.
10 - Three on the trot for Lucas?
Lucas Moura is aiming to become the first Spurs player in eight years to score in three consecutive rounds of the League Cup in the same campaign. The Brazilian forward has scored in each of our last two outings in the Carabao Cup, hitting the winners against Burnley (round four) and then West Ham (quarter-finals). The last player to score in three matches on the trot in the competition was Harry Kane, as he struck against Nottingham Forest (round three), Brighton & Hove Albion (round four) and Newcastle United (fifth round) on our way to the final in the 2014/15 season.
