Chelsea welcome arch rivals Tottenham to Stamford Bridge this weekend with Xabi Alonso looking to make it three wins on the bounce in the Premier League for the Blues

After such a mature and accomplished performance on Merseyside over the weekend, Xabi Alonso might be tempted to keep his Chelsea side almost the same.

Pedro Neto's two goals secured the Blues the three points away at Everton but Alonso's midfield and defence recorded them a priceless clean sheet - their first in nine months. In a stadium they were battered at, by three goals to nil, less than seven months prior, it was a mightily impressive result for the west Londoners.

With more than a week to prepare for their next challenge, the visit of Tottenham to Stamford Bridge, Alonso has had some time to think about the line-up he will choose for Saturday evening's clash. The Chelsea boss, though, might be looking to keep as much of the XI the same as possible.

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However, he will be forced into one big change.

The club confirmed on Sunday that goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez had undergone successful surgery on a fractured jaw that he suffered in the win at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Mike Penders was brought on in the second half of the 2-0 victory with Martinez taken straight to hospital.

Chelsea insiders have refused to put an exact timeframe on the Argentine goalkeeper's absence but he will be missing for the foreseeable future. That means Penders is expected to make his full Premier League debut when Spurs come to west London at the weekend.

Elsewhere, Alonso might look to keep things more or less the same. Josh Acheampong, Maxence Lacroix and Levi Colwill all played a big part in Chelsea's first clean sheet of the season last weekend, while the midfield two of Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson provided much-needed protection to the back three.

Neto, who played as the right wing-back, starred in an attacking sense by scoring both goals but the Portugal international also did his fair share of work going the other way. Jorrel Hato, too, who provided the assist for Neto's opening goal, starred in the win on Merseyside.

Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro have all had brighter displays this season but they all played their part in the impressive victory.

Alonso could end up going for something like this for the clash with Tottenham: Penders; Acheampong, Lacroix, Colwill; Neto, Henderson, Caicedo, Hato; Palmer, Rogers; Joao Pedro.

The likes of Estevao Willian, Geovany Quenda, Valentin Barco, Danny Welbeck and so on will be hoping for some much-needed, proper first-team minutes when Chelsea return to Merseyside next week to take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.