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Tottenham vs Chelsea : More Than Just A London Derby

Match of the week? Definitely!! Avb faces his old club this Saturday as Chelsea make a short trip to the White Hart Lane to face Tottenham.

 

AVB vs RDM

Who:            Tottenham Hotspur FC (5th, 14 pts) vs  Chelsea FC (1st, 19 points) 

What:          English Premier League, Week 8

Where:        White Hart Lane, Tottenham, London, England.

When:         Saturday, October 20, 2012, 12:45 p.m. GMT.

Referee:      Mike Dean

The last time the clubs met was in Wembley when Chelsea battered them 5-1 in the FA Cup semi-final. Then on the Blues robbed them of their spot in the Champions League, over taken their total of major honours and signed a world-class young player from a team that they’re in partnership with! The hatred/significance will only be doubled as Spurs is being managed by none other than AVB, the coach who almost managed to break Chelsea and got fired in the process.

 

Let’s quickly fast forward to now. Chelsea are doing brilliantly under Di Matteo and Villas-Boas is at a club that suits his ideas and philosophies far better than Chelsea ever did. Tottenham made a slow start but now both sides are thriving and this should be an awesome game for fans and for neutrals. 

Tottenham Preview : 

 

  • The Portuguese manager will be hoping to impress against his former club and there’s no better way to do that than inflicting, upon them, their first defeat of the season. 
  • Gareth Bale will be looking to build on his impressive displays for Wales during the international break, eager to justify the praise he has received in the past week. Jermain Defoe will also be a worry to the Chelsea defence as the England striker has six goals to his name this season.
  • Spurs have added the ex Fulham duo of Mousa Dembele and  Clint Dempsey-who scored against the Blues in both the meetings last season.
  • Kyle Walker looks a lot more solid defensively, showing an ever increasing rate of development. And Jan Vertonghen on the other flank will only add flexibility.

Likely Starting XI : 

Lloris

Walker, Gallas, Caulker, Vertonghen

Sandro, Dembele

Lennon, Dempsey, Bale

Defoe

A Tactical View of how the teams could look Tomorrow

Chelsea Preview : 

 

  • Lots happened over the international break involving John Terry. He firstly started getting used to his retirement from the England national team, was fined and warned by his club, he announced he would not appeal against the suspension and fine imposed by the F.A. and thus he starts his 4 match Domestic ban on Saturday. 
  • In Chelsea’s next 10 matches, they play Spurs, Manchester United twice, Liverpool, Manchester City, Shakhtar Donetsk twice and Juventus. This congested set of fixtures will have a huge role to play on the rest of the season.
  • Frank Lampard missed both of England’s World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland with a calf injury and will be assessed prior to kick-off and if fit, he could make his 500th Premier League start, while Ramires is one shy of 100 appearances for Chelsea.
  •  As usual, the dangerous trio of Oscar-Hazard-Mata will cause the Spurs defence a lot of problems and Torres is getting goals on a regular basis now.

Likely Starting XI :

Cech

Ivanovic, Cahill, David Luiz, Cole

Mikel, Lampard

Mata, Oscar, Hazard

Torres

Prediction :

Tottenham 1-2 Chelsea

Both clubs are undefeated in their last six EPL games—Chelsea 5-1-0 and Tottenham 4-2-0. So it will be a very close call but Chelsea have just the slightest of edges as their back line has been rock solid this season and they’re the only team in EPL not to have allowed even one goal in the second half. They also have the upper hand when it comes to creativity and though Bale and co manage to score 1 goal, Chelsea have enough in them to score 2.

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