Quietly, Tottenham Hotspur striker Dominic Solanke is starting to show signs of life at the top of the attack, and perhaps pairing him with Omar Marmoush at the top of a 3-5-2 like system was the breath of fresh air the experienced Premier League striker needed. After surprisingly wearing the captain's arm band and scoring a late equalizer for the Lilywhites vs. Manchester United, bouncing back from a few high profile misses earlier in the game, Solanke registered an assist in a 3-1 win over Coventry.
This Saturday, both he and Tottenham will face a tougher test against Chelsea, which is a former club of Solanke's youth back when he was one of the most touted prospects in European football. Solanke will never be able to fulfill his elite potential, but Roberto De Zerbi has been pretty consistently confident that he can turn Big Dom into an attacking solution for Spurs.
Chelsea don't have a great defense on paper. It's been one of their weakest points over the past couple of years, even leading to Enzo Maresca leaving the club in the middle of the 2025/26 season after a pretty promising start. But Chelsea hired Xabi Alonso to give this team more organization, and Maxence Lacroix has come in to solidify the center of the defense.
Tottenham have to score more than one goal to win
When Tottenham Hotspur paid a whopping 65 million pounds to Bournemouth in order to sign Dominic Solanke after his personal record 19 goals, they didn't necessarily just sign him because of the goals, but they also saw that even before that, Solanke had a reputation for being a skilled striker who could bring others into play.
Tottenham and Roberto De Zerbi still value that and want to see that. And that's going to be important in order for Spurs to finally beat Chelse again. It's not just because their London rivals have one of the best all around strikers in Europe to start the 2026/27 campaign right now in Joao Pedro, but it's also because Chelsea have a highly athletic, energetic, and young back three that can cover ground.
What Spurs need is Solanke to be active and mobile as a striker, take some players on, hold the ball, and release the right passes with the proper weight, timing, and quality to help Omar Marmoush, Mohammed Kudus, and the surrounding attackers to help him score goals. Because against Chelsea's vaunted attack, it will take two or three goals in order to win.
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