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Chelsea vs. Tottenham: One Spurs player must start "every game" as Roberto De Zerbi sent selection demand
The Spurs player who must start "every game" as De Zerbi sent Chelsea demand
© Iconsport / Mark Pain / Alamy Live News

As Tottenham Hotspur prepare for a mouth-watering Premier League London derby away to Chelsea on Saturday night, Sports Mole site coordinator Ben Knapton highlights the Spurs player who must start "every game" for the Lilywhites moving forward.

Tottenham undergo "complete turnaround" before Chelsea clash

There were so many positives for Tottenham to take from that game [against Man United]. In the previous podcast we were talking about how De Zerbi needs to bring James Maddison in. He showed in the first 20 minutes exactly why you start James Maddison.

A goal out of nothing to really settle the nerves that were starting to accumulate in the stadium, because it was an awkward opening 10 minutes for Tottenham. They needed something to calm the nerves, and then a bit of Maddison magic did exactly that.

The Coventry equaliser was a bit of a defensive mess, but Spurs' multimillion-pound quality finally shone through with a fine strike from Omar Marmoush.

Then capping it off, a goal from the long-serving Ben Davies, which the keeper certainly should have done better for. What a way for Tottenham to get their first win of the season.

It was a complete turnaround from the typical Tottenham we'd seen this season. In previous episodes we were talking about how Tottenham were generating so many chances and just not taking any of them. In that game they didn't even generate one expected goal, and yet they scored three.

Maddison's was an absolute worldie. Marmoush's was a great strike from outside the box. Davies's just rolled into the corner with a bit of help from the keeper.

Two absolute vintage goals and one that was a little fortunate. But if you're Tottenham right now, you don't care how the goals come.

Tottenham's James Maddison must start "every game" for Spurs

© Iconsport / Harvey Murphy/News Images/Sipa USA

De Zerbi was dealt two fresh injury blows before the game, losing Savio and Lucas Bergvall to new issues that are going to sideline them for weeks. But Kudus is getting into full flow on that right-hand side.

Maddison, as long as he's fit, should be starting every single game in that number 10 role moving forward. There have been a lot of question marks over whether Marmoush can work off the left-hand side, but coming in from the left for that goal against Coventry shows what he can do.

Beating a newly-promoted team at home is one thing, but going to one of the most potent attacking teams in the league and getting a result is a different kettle of fish entirely.

This game would be a good test of whether Tottenham have actually made sustained progress. They got a positive result at Man United before beating Coventry, so things are looking up, but this will be a real examination of where they actually are.

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