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Enzo Maresca spotted something Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma kept doing to Cole Palmer during Chelsea’s 4-3 win

Lucas Arnold

Mon 9 December 2024 7:40, UK

After their dramatic 4-3 win away to Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea leap up above Arsenal to go second in the Premier League, only four points behind Liverpool.

Despite being 2-0 down in north London, Chelsea eventually won in a fairly comfortable fashion against Tottenham, even if the home side rallied late on.

Unlike Enzo Maresca, Ange Postecoglou will seriously be feꦓeling the pressure in N17 – Spurs aᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚre now 11th and showing no sign of consistency.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	14	11	2	1	29	11	18	35
2	ChelseaChelsea	15	9	4	2	35	18	17	31
3	ArsenalArsenal	15	8	5	2	29	15	14	29

Despite their strong start, Tottenham were easily carved open by the likes of Cole Palmer and Jadon Sancho.

Perhaps Spurs will still feel fuming over a controversial VAR decision in the first half, one that could have swung tღhꦬe game.

Yves Bissouma failed to stop Cole Palmer from hurting Tottenham

That being said, Maresca discussed something he noticed Yves Bissouma doing when speaking at his after the game.

Bissouma gave away a reckless penalty in the second half, a rash🎃 foul he eventually apologised for on social media.

READ MORE: I saw Tottenh🥀am playeඣr completely lose Ange Postecoglou’s trust in 4-3 defeat against Chelsea

But it𓆉 wasn’t just Bissouma’s ill-timed ch♔allenge that caught Maresca’s eye after the game – the Chelsea manager also spotted how the midfielder was attempting to man-mark Palmer.

Of course, Palmerꦆ’s talent still shone through, a performanc꧒e Maresca hailed as ‘fantastic’.

Maresca said: “Since we started, I have not see♚n Cole shooting penalties. In terms of the second penalty, it’s cold. It’s cold.

“The good thing about him tonight was Bissouma was marking him man-to-man, so he needꦺs to learn how to play against a team that goe🦋s man-to-man with him, but he was fantastic.

“His pressing, his work♑ off the ball. Nico, Col🌺e and the two wingers.”

Tottenham still exposed Chelsea’s biggest problem

As Maresca alludes to, Bissouma’s efforts were eventually in vain – Palmer still found a way to dec🔴ide 𓆉the game.

Perhaps Chelsea’s biggest issue throughout the game was actually Marc Cucurella’s boots, which ended up in a bin in N17.

And whilst it was a mostly positive day for the away side against Tottenham, Jamie Carragher spotted one big problem at C𒀰helsea, a player who could stop them challenging Liverpool for the ♌league titꦬle.

In terms of Tottenham’s own prospects, Postecoglou pointed towards the January transfer window♒ as a key point of the season when Spurs need to strengthen.

However, resul𝔉ts will also need to improve before then, otherwise Postecoglou might not even be in charge to oversee those de💟als.