Tottenham can beat Chelsea in the center of the pitch

By Ryan Wrenn | Apr 21, 2017

SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - JANUARY 31: Eric Dier of Tottenham Hotspur gestures during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur at Stadium of Light on January 31, 2017 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /

Saturday’s FA Cup semifinal between Tottenham and Chelsea will pit the two best offenses and the two best defenses against one another. The match will be won somewhere in between however.

Look no further than the PFA Team of the Year list to see where these teams’ stars feature. Tottenham forward Harry Kane and Dele Alli are on the list along with both full-backs, Kyle Walker and Danny Rose. Chelsea, meanwhile, are in possession of both winning centre-back positions and another forward, Eden Hazard.

The fourth Chelsea man honored by the PFA though points to where we can expect to see much of the action on Saturday. N’Golo Kanté might just be the most valuable played Antonio Conte fields week to week.

The Frenchman’s range, positional sense and grit in midfield free up his teammates to more aggressively push forward in attack. He will be the Blues’ first line of defense against Tottenham’s attempts to build up play in the middle third of the pitch.

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Tottenham, too, rely heavily on the man occupying the base of their midfield. For much of the season that man has been Victor Wanyama. Though a larger specimen than Kanté, the Kenyan performs a similar role. He runs down, he destroys, he permits Dele, Mousa Dembélé and the full-backs to take risks in possession.

Indeed, back when these sides last faced each other, it would be fair to say that the Wanyama/Dembélé combination overwhelmed Kanté’s grip on the center of the pitch. As a result Eriksen and Dele were afforded the space to steer Spurs to a memorable 2-0 victory.

Eric Dier recently returned to midfield as Wanyama recovered from back strain and proved his own unique value in the position. Like Wanyama, he is an inveterate destroyer, while also having a knack for helping drive play forward through simple but effective passing.

As of Friday it was not clear who would start on Saturday. Pochettino faces a difficult decision considering in what fine form both players are in.

Midfield was always going to be a battlefield of this FA Cup semifinal, but there is now added emphasis following Chelsea’s defeat to Manchester United last weekend.

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Conte’s side was outplayed across the pitch, but the key appeared to be Ander Herrera’s expert marking of Hazard. The Belgian dynamo was unable to lose the United midfielder, and with the squad suffering from illness otherwise it left the Blues looking particularly uninspired.

Tottenham will attempt to build upon their midfield dominance of the January encounter, perhaps with some added attention paid to Hazard.