While Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur never considered each other primary rivals, there has always been strong needle between the fans dating back to the 1967 FA Cup final.

A 2012 survey has shown that Chelsea fans consider Tottenham to be their main rival, above Arsenal and Manchester United.

[8] Chelsea failed to win either of their remaining two games and were ultimately relegated from the First Division with Tottenham staying up via a solitary point.

[9] Chelsea became dominant in the meetings with Tottenham in the 1990s; starting from September 1990 they were unbeaten by their rivals for over a decade, including a 6–1 win at White Hart Lane in the 1997–98 season.

[10] On 5 November 2006, Tottenham beat Chelsea 2–1 at White Hart Lane, ending a 16-year period without victory against the Blues in the league.

[11] Spurs did, however, beat Chelsea in 2002 during a 5–1 win in the second leg of the league cup after a 2–1 defeat at Stamford Bridge, resulting in an aggregate score of 6–3.

In the next season, the two sides met in the 2008 Football League Cup final, with Tottenham winning the trophy after a 2–1 victory.

[17] On 1 March 2015, Chelsea won the 2015 Football League Cup final 2–0 against Tottenham, with goals provided by John Terry and Diego Costa.

[citation needed] In the 2015–16 season, Tottenham's league performance improved under their manager Mauricio Pochettino, and they were a contender for the title.

The match re-ignited the rivalry between the two clubs as players attacked each other on the pitch, resulting in nine yellow cards for Tottenham (a Premier League record for any team), another three for Chelsea, and Mousa Dembélé receiving a six-match suspension for violent conduct.

Chelsea won the match 2–1 with two goals scored by Marcos Alonso, ending Tottenham's 19-game home Premier League unbeaten run.

[37] On 5 January 2022, Chelsea took on Tottenham in the League Cup semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge, and won the match 2–0.

[40] The win meant that Chelsea had beaten Tottenham three times in the space of a month—the last Premier League team to achieve this feat was Aston Villa against Blackburn Rovers in January 2010.

This followed multiple altercations between them on the touchline, initially when Conte celebrated in front of Tuchel following a Spurs equaliser, and later when both managers clashed whilst shaking hands after the final whistle.