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• Maresca will not let Chelsea 'slow down' after reaffirming title credentials

  Enzo Maresca will not let his Chelsea players get complacent after a chaotic 4-3 victory over Tottenham moved them within touching distance of the Premier League summit.

  Cole Palmer's second-half penalty double, scored either side of Enzo Fernandez's lashing finish, sealed a remarkable turnaround at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

  Chelsea trailed 2-0 after just 11 minutes as Marc Cucurella's pair of errors allowed Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski to score, before Jadon Sancho reduced the arrears with a fine finish.

  A battling comeback victory saw Chelsea move within four points of Liverpool, whose game with Everton was postponed due to inclement weather, and Maresca insists his side will not relent.

  "The plan or the idea is to not let the players slow down. They can not drop because they know another player is waiting to come in," the Chelsea boss told Sky Sports.

  "Arsenal, City and Liverpool probably don't slide - like Cucurella did! To be serious, we are not ready, we are far from these teams but we focus on day-by-day and trying to improve the team."

  Maresca continued to reiterate Chelsea are not yet in the title race, despite leapfrogging Arsenal and increasing the pressure on Arne Slot's Reds.

  However, the Blues are firmly in contention heading into a decisive festive period, thanks to the brilliance of Palmer and Maresca's selection of young talent.

  Palmer now has 50 goal involvements (33 goals, 17 assists) in 48 Premier League games for Chelsea, a tally bettered by only three players in the competition's history.

  Manchester City's Erling Haaland (39), Andy Cole for Newcastle United (43), and Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah (46) have ever reached 50 in fewer league games for a club.

  Maresca acknowledged the special talent he has in Palmer, who has converted all 12 penalties taken in the Premier League, the most in the competition's history without ever missing (Yaya Toure is next on 11).

  "I know Cole from a long time ago and I always trust him in every aspect," Maresca said of his star talisman. "He is a fantastic guy.

  "He is learning how to play games when he is marked man-to-man, [Yves] Bissouma was with him all the game. He is learning, improving and scoring goals. That makes him happy and makes us happy."

  Bissouma was at fault for the first penalty, hauling down the onrushing Moises Caicedo, who was earlier fortunate to avoid a red card after a VAR review for a high lunge on Pape Sarr in the first half.

  Sarr then felled Palmer for the second spot-kick, which he coolly dinked down the middle, and created breathing room for Chelsea that was needed thanks to Son Heung-min's late consolation goal.

  It would have been more straightforward for the visitors if not for the slips from Cucurella, though Maresca saw the humorous of those errors after another impressive comeback.

  "He said to me after the game that he was trying to bring emotion to the game," Maresca joked. "It's more a question for Marc [on his boots].

  "They are mature enough to decide what boots they need for the game."

• Postecoglou rues 'painful' collapse after Chelsea fight back against Spurs

  Ange Postecoglou was left to rue a "painful" collapse as Tottenham squandered a two-goal lead to lose 4-3 against Chelsea on Sunday.

  Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski both profited from Marc Cucurella slips to fire the hosts 2-0 up after just 11 minutes at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

  Jadon Sancho pulled one back, however, with a delightful 17th-minute drive before Tottenham wilted under pressure in the second half.

  A pair of Cole Palmer penalties, scored either side of Enzo Fernandez's lashing finish to put Chelsea 3-2 up, proved the undoing for Postecoglou's side.

  Spurs, who grabbed a late third through Son Heung-min, suffered a second defeat in the space of three days after a midweek loss to Bournemouth, though Postecoglou  believes the performances were contrasting.

  "It's a sore one for sure, it's painful," the Tottenham boss told Sky Sports. "We started the game really well and then we lose Cristian Romero and we had to reshuffle.

  "We still had some big moments to get a third and finish it off. The second half was a ding-dong for long and then they scored. The two penalties weren't great, we need a bit of discipline in the box.

  "It's a key point when you lose a key player in the first 20 minutes, He couldn't continue so it's not ideal.

  "We didn't play well in midweek but we did here. They're a top side, you have got to give credit to them. We got distracted in key moments.

  "We need to realise we are tough to stop when we do play our football. The two penalties were poor. When you're playing these top teams, the momentum shifts quickly."

   

  Yves Bissouma fouled Moises Caicedo for the first penalty, with Pape Sarr at fault for a challenge on Palmer for the second spot-kick.

  Tottenham felt aggrieved Caicedo was still on the pitch, though, as the Chelsea man survived a VAR review for a first-half lunge on Sarr that could have been deemed worthy of a straight red card.

  "I haven't seen the replays. I thought a couple of decisions were poor," Postecoglou said of the Caicedo decision. "We have to accept it and move on."

  Micky van de Ven and Romero returned for Sunday's clash, though the latter was forced off after just 15 minutes before his centre-back partner came off in the closing stages.

  "He felt a bit tight," Postecoglou said of Van de Ven. "He was only meant to play 60 or 70 minutes. Hopefully it's not too bad because you could see the difference.

  "I'm hoping Romero isn't too bad. We're thin on numbers and if we're thin in January, we'll be looking to add to the squad because they need some help."

  Sunday marked the 11th time that Tottenham lost a Premier League game after having been two or more goals ahead – at least four more such defeats than any other side in the competition's history.

  It was also the first time they did so at home in the league since September 2001 against Manchester United in a 5-3 defeat.

  Son shared a similar frustration to Postecoglou, though wanted to shoulder the blame for his missed chance at 2-2 when one-on-one with Robert Sanchez.

  "It's very disappointing. I don't know what to say at the moment," Son told Sky Sports. "We can't concede goals like this. We can't dive into this situation.

  "I can stay here all day talking about the mistakes but I'd rather blame me with the chance and I'd rather take the blame.

  "We have got to stick together in such difficult moments, it's very important and it's why we need big support. The players are very young and they need support more than before and more than we had.

  "The fans were always supporting amazingly but I think it's time the players also need to step up. We need some big support and big cheering up."

  In Postecoglou's 53 Premier League games in charge, Tottenham have both scored and conceded in 36 of them (68%).

  Of all managers to oversee 50+ matches in the competition's history, only Ossie Ardiles' games had a higher ratio of seeing both sides score (69% - 37/54).

• Wilder lauds 'best' point of season after surviving 'massive' West Brom test

  Chris Wilder lauded Sheffield United's "best" point of the season after overcoming a "massive test" for a draw at West Brom that sent them back to the Championship summit.

  Tom Fellows' equaliser for the hosts just after the hour sealed a share of the spoils at the Hawthorns, with the Baggies having now drawn 10 of their last 11 league games.

  The 2-2 draw sent the Blades a point clear at the top of the Championship, moving past second-placed Leeds United after their 2-0 win over Derby County on Saturday.

  Though United dropped points after being 2-1 up, Wilder lauded his side's resilience in difficult conditions against last season's play-off challengers.

  "We were up against a really good team. We knew this was a massive test for us, and we showed great character to overturn a lead the way we did," Wilder said. 

  "So I'm delighted with that. As far as I'm concerned, that's our best, hardest-earned point of the season. It was so important we got something.

  "We could easily have decided it wasn't going to be our day. Let's get back on the bus and get home and get in front of the fire. But they didn't.

  "It was tough out there. But this side is learning on the job. We had six 22-year-olds on the park at one stage playing against men, in men's conditions.

  "But they fought back and got a result."

  West Brom took the lead in the 24th minute through Torbjorn Heggem, with the Norwegian heading home from Alex Mowatt's inswinging corner. 

  However, two strikes in as many minutes from Callum O'Hare and Tyrese Campbell put the visitors in front at the break, with full-back Harrison Burrows playing a huge role in both goals. 

  West Brom responded after the interval when Fellows' attempted cross from the right corner of the area deflected wickedly into the ground off Gustavo Hamer, with the ball looping out of Michael Cooper's reach. 

  In a topsy-turvy match, the Blades edged the match statistics, producing an expected goals (xG) total of 1.05 from their 12 shots to West Brom's 0.73 from their 11 efforts.