Chelsea vs. Tottenham: Five Key Battles To Look Out For In The London Derby

On Wednesday, Chelsea will take on Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. It’s a game that will allow Chelsea to get back to winning ways after their less than stellar performance against Sunderland on Saturday at the Stadium of Light.

That game ended in a dismal 0-0 draw, with Chelsea stuttering in front of goal. It wasn’t the worst result, of course; the last two meetings between Gus Poyet’s Sunderland and Chelsea have ended in 2-1 victories for the Black Cats, so a draw against a team that’s beginning to achieve ‘bogey’ status could be argued is a point gained. Even though nothing can be taken away from Sunderland, who put up a massive fight to hold back the formidable Blues, José Mourinho will have been weary about their ineffectiveness in front of goal.

Tottenham took on Everton at White Hart Lane on Sunday, in a game that ended 2-1 to the good for Spurs, with the unlikely Roberto Soldado scoring the winning goal on the stroke of halftime. It was a fine end to a very good month of football for Spurs, seeing the team rise to seventh place in the Premier League table. Tottenham registered nine points from an available twelve, with the only loss coming as a surprise at home against Stoke City. Tottenham is experiencing a timely season’s revival, as they will need everything to go in their favour for Wednesday’s London derby at the Bridge.

Here are some of the key battles for Wednesday’s London clash:

Aaron Lennon vs. César Azpilicueta:

Arguably the best left-back in the Premier League at the moment, Azpilicueta’s performances have been rock solid for Chelsea all season, making him a firm choice as starter over new signing Filipe Luis. This of course is coming from a player who has been played out of his natural position for most of his Chelsea career, which makes it all the more impressive. Aaron Lennon has been getting back to what he does best: providing incredible pace down the flanks, and registering a couple of assists in his last two games. The way that these two wide men deal with each other’s presence Wednesday night will be intriguing, but I expect the Spaniard to come out on top here.

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Cesc Fàbregas vs. Christian Eriksen:

Football matches are won and lost in the middle of the field; the team with the strongest midfields are the likelier to leave with three points at the end of the day. During this first half of the season, Tottenham has had little to truly celebrate, but Eriksen has been one of the most consistent players since the start of the campaign. He endured a tough first season at White Hart Lane, but he is coming into his own now, and at 22 years old, his Spurs career has just gotten started. Fàbregas, on the other hand, has arguably been the best midfielder in the Premier League all season, registering 10 assists to lead the table this season. The onus will fall on the Spaniard to find the right passes to feed Chelsea’s formidable attacking quartet, minus Diego Costa.

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Loïc Rémy vs. Hugo Lloris:

Rémy burst onto the Chelsea scene by scoring a late goal as a substitute early on in the season. Since then, he’s done little to show the form that attracted the Blues’ interest while at Newcastle and QPR. Now of course this isn’t his fault; what manager in the world would leave out Diego Costa with the form he’s been in? Well on Wednesday, the Special One won’t have a choice in the matter, as Costa has picked up one too many yellow cards, earning him a game’s suspension. Rémy, it looks to be the case, is the player to whom Mourinho will turn to lead the line against Spurs. This may allow some Spurs fans to breathe a sigh of relief, but Rémy is still a threat, and Lloris has not kept a clean sheet in the Premier League since early October’s one-nil win over Southampton. I think that the most pressure will be set on Rémy, who must capitalize on these rare chances that he will get this year to show Mourinho that he deserves a starting position.

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Eden Hazard vs. Jan Vertonghen/Eric Dier/Kyle Walker:

Why do I have three men against Hazard? Sure, the Belgian winger is that good, but the reason is because Tottenham has been almost as inconsistent as Manchester United this season with backlines. It is so hard to predict which defenders will be selected for Wednesday’s match, let alone where they will play among the back four, as all of them can seemingly be slotted into whichever position is available. That’s a blessing and a curse I’d say. The best of teams have a consistent back four playing week in and week out; so much so that the manager will always have five names (including the keeper) on the team sheet before he even has to think about his team selection.

Barring injury and suspensions, obviously, this is the case. Not with Tottenham, although the return from injury of Kyle Walker will be very well met among Spurs supporters and, although he probably will not be started in a match in which he will have to deal with Hazard, his return might bring a little consistency to Tottenham’s defence. Whoever takes that ominous right back position on Wednesday will have a tall order on their hands trying to keep Hazard quiet.

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Roberto Soldado/Harry Kane vs. John Terry:

Soldado finally ended his goal drought on Sunday against Everton. Terry kept yet another clean sheet and keeps showing us every week why he is still the first name on Mourinho’s team sheet. The captain leads from the back, and commands that back four just as well as he has always done for Chelsea. Pochettino suddenly has a bit of selection headache – never a bad thing for a coach – in whether he plays Soldado, the Spaniard with a bit of a renewed confidence, or whether he goes back to Harry Kane, who has been far more consistent both in the Premier League and in Europe.

He might elect to play them both side by side, which would signal a strong intent that Tottenham has come to play good, attacking football. Whoever gets the nod to lead the line on Wednesday will need to be at the top of their game; there has been little getting past Terry this season, and it will take something special to break down the partnership he has with Gary Cahill on the night. If Soldado can bag a second goal in as many games, Pochettino might be finally on the verge of getting the best out of the Spaniard.