Dissecting the chaos of Tottenham vs Chelsea from a Dream Team perspective – red cards, injuries and a strange hat-trick

FANS of both Tottenham and Chelsea will be trying to piece together exactly what happened in North London last night.

The Blues 4-1 win was one of the most uniquely entertaining games in Premier League history.

Amid what felt like an unprecedented volume of VAR reviews, the hosts went down to nine men and continued to persist with the highest of defensive lines.

Ange Postecoglou’s men shaped up in a 7-0-1 formation at times and the visitors were seemingly confused by the abnormality of it all as they fell into a frustrating pattern of offsides and over-hit throughballs before they eventually capitalised on the advantageous dynamic.

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PLAY SCORE PREDICTOR AHEAD OF THIS WEEKEND’S ACTION – SOMEBODY MUST WIN AN XBOX SERIES X!

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Dream Team

The morning after the night before[/caption]

Let’s unpack the madness from a Dream Team perspective as there’s plenty for gaffers to mull over.

Nicolas Jackson (£2.7m) was the big winner when all was said and done as he bagged his first professional hat-trick for a 21-point return.

However, the Senegal international made hard work of what should have been easy pickings.

Usually, a hat-trick would trigger a tidal wave of transfers in Dream Team but viewers of the game are unlikely to have been impressed with what the saw from the striker – a remarkable sentiment for a player who took home the match ball!

Jackson is due to face Manchester City and Newcastle in his next two games and, unless those teams also go down to nine men in similarly catastrophic fashion, he’ s unlikely to benefit from such a fortuitous situation again.

At the time of writing, the 22-year-old is the joint-top performer in Gameweek 11 alongside Jeremy Doku (£3.9m) but it’s probably fair to say the latter will be considerably more popular among Dream Team managers this week.

Alamy

The easiest hat-trick he’ll ever score[/caption]

It was a nightmarish evening for Spurs’ defence.

Cristian Romero (£3.7m) was among the best-performing assets in his position prior to Gameweek 11 but the Argentine centre-back’s red card meant he ultimately registered -5 points – yes, minus five!

And of course the World Cup winner will now be suspended for Spurs’ next three fixtures, meaning he won’t return until December 7th.

Postecoglou is likely to be without Van de Ven for even longer as the Dutchman pulled up with what looked like a serious hamstring injury.

The 22-year-old, who has been one of the best defenders in the league this term, could hardly walk as he left the pitch.

Destiny Udogie (£2.9m) joined Romero in an early bath for two blatant lunges worthy of yellow cards – Gary Neville on commentary said the young Italian was lucky to avoid a straight red for his first offence.

The energetic left-back will only miss one game through suspension but his Dream Team viability took a big hit when he registered minus four points on Monday night.

Getty

Van de Ven pulled up with a hamstring injury amid the chaos[/caption]

Then there’s the question mark over James Maddison’s (£4.4m) fitness.

Spurs’ No10 remains the third-best midfielder in Dream Team at the time of writing but he was forced off before half time with a knock.

Postecoglou talked down the issue after the game so it may be that the in-form playmaker is available to face Wolves in Gameweek 12 but gaffers await further updates.

This is a major plot point to monitor in the realm of Dream Team as Maddison is the game’s second-most selected player with an ownership of 43%.

Switching focus back to Chelsea, Cole Palmer (£2.8m) continues to impress for his new club.

Results have improved since Mauricio Pochettino installed the former Man City youngster as starting right winger with the 21-year-old also jumping the queue to become first-choice penalty taker.

He converted from the spot to equalise at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and he assisted Jackson’s third goal to pocket 12 points by full time.

Having plundered 56 points across his last seven outings, Palmer represents a tempting value-for-money option.

Chelsea don’t have European fixtures to bolster their schedule this season but Palmer will certainly be a viable choice for gaffers in need of a cheap midfielder around the Christmas period.

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