Chelsea travel to Tottenham Hotspur this evening in what promises to be a crack of a London derby.
A blockbuster London derby takes centre stage this evening as Tottenham Hotspur host Chelsea.
The Blues have only won two of their last seven matches in the Premier League as injuries to several key players,
Including Christopher Nkunku and Ben Chilwill, have curtailed their early season hopes.
Tottenham, meanwhile, have been in imperious form since the arrival of Ange Postecoglu and remain the only side in the division to have their unbeaten record intact.
Postecoglu’s unstoppable duo of Heung-min Son and James Maddison will be looking to cause further damage this evening by adding to their 17 goal contributions between them in the league.
They face a Chelsea defence that is only behind Manchester City, Arsenal and Newcastle United for expected goals against (xGA), as per Understat.
One man who has featured heavily in Mauricio Pochettino’s backline this term is centre-back Axel Disasi.
Chelsea star Axel Disasi’s season in numbers
Disasi arrived for £38.8m from Monaco in the summer and has since established himself in the Argentine’s plans, featuring in nine of their ten Premier League fixtures.
The 25-year-old has impressed with his ability to carry the ball out of defence and make killer passes through the thirds,
Complementing his 50% dribble success rate with a 92% pass completion, as per Sofascore.
With Pochettino deploying a possession-based style that requires patience in their pursuit to exploit gaps,
Disasi’s elegance and ability on the ball have played a vital role in the Blues build-up phase.
In their match against Tottenham this evening, however,
Chelsea will likely have to surrender possession and set-up to hit Spurs on the counter-attack.
Given the threat posed by the hosts through the devastating Son and Maddison,
The Frenchman will need to be on the ball defensively.
Unfortunately, the £80k per-week titan hasn’t performed particularly well in a defensive capacity,
Ranking in the bottom 8% against his positional peers in the Premier League this term for interceptions,
Also Bottom 10% for blocks and bottom 1% for tackles, as per FBref.
That said, Pochettino could ruthlessly ditch Disasi for his former Monaco teammate, Benoit Badiashile, this evening.
