Tottenham vs Chelsea Preview

Competition : Barclays Premier League
Opponent : Tottenham
Venue : White Hart Lane, London
Form(Last 5 matches.Latest first)
Chelsea: WWWWW
Tottenham:WDWWW



After the international break is over, a visit to White Hart Lane marks the beginning of a tough group of matches for Chelsea. Following Tottenham is an away game against Shakthar Donetsk, 2 home games against Man United followed by Swansea away,Shakthar at home and then Liverpool at home. It continues to a trip to West Brom followed by an away game against Juventus followed by a visit from Manchester City to the Bridge. All these between the 20th of this month till the 24th of November. There is no doubt that this period of the season will almost prove the credentials of Chelsea to the EPL and Champions league crowns yet again and marks the most important phase of the season. And that's why a win in the game against a high flying Tottenham is so important.

Under former Chelsea boss Andre Vilas Boas, Tottenham are also hit a purple patch and have hit form with the likes of Mousa Dembele , Defoe and Gareth Bale shining. The away win against Man United ( a first in the EPL era for Spurs) should surely be seen as a great achievement and Tottenham at home should pose the greatest threat to our unbeaten start to the premier league campaign. I still think that Andre Vilas Boas wasn't given much time at Chelsea and his theories struggled with the ageing squad at his disposal. The change of fortunes was led by a man Vilas Boas chose as his assistant and with the huge spending in the summer, Chelsea are without doubt a very different team than the one Vilas Boas had to manage. With Tottenham also playing exciting football, the tactics of Vilas Boas and Di Matteo will have a great influence on the game as the style of the players involved are going to be almost the same. There is no doubt that to get a positive result, Chelsea should take the attack to the opposition like the game against Arsenal and controlling the central midfield area will be really important. Dembele has proved to be a wonderful signing for Spurs and getting past him will be a real challenge for our attacking midfield trio.

The managers will be hoping that none of the players pick up any injuries in the internationals and will hope to pick the XI from a fully fit squad. With the importance of the match very evident, RDM will not tinker with the side's formation.

Cech

         Luiz                      Cahill

Ivanovic                                                                  Cole

Ramires                Mikel

Mata                            Oscar                     Hazard

     Torres

With Terry probably being suspended for the game, Luiz and Cahill will start at the center back positions with Ivanovic and Cole at the right and left sides respectively. Stopping the runs of the pacy Gareth Bale will be off top most priority and for Chelsea to have a good game, it has to be a good performance from Ivanovic. Ramires should start at the right of the central midfield pairing since he has the energy to stop any runs from Bale. The other flank also has the influential Aaron Lennon for Spurs and Cole will have to be guarded against the runs from his England colleague.

Thankfully we have the pace to give the Spurs defenders a headache with the attacking trio of Oscar,Mata and Hazard along with Ramires. With Mata in supreme form at the moment and Oscar and Hazard also establishing themselves very quickly in the league, the trio behind Torres will give a tough time for the Spurs defenders. It becomes really critical that the chances are put away and hence Torres has to have a good day on the pitch. This should be a really exciting game to watch- end to end stuff with a small mistake or two proving to be the difference at the end.I am going for an exciting 2-2 draw.

Men to watch out for :

Dembele : The former Fulham man has been hugely impressive for Tottenham in the central midfield role alongside Sandro

Bale: The influential Welsh will again be a man to watch and Ivanovic has to be at his best.

Ramires : The Brazilian has the energy to stop the likes of Bale and his passes and tackles in the central midfield area will control Chelsea's momentum.

Mata : The Spaniard has been Chelsea's most inventive players off late and his rapport with Oscar and Hazard has developed well within a short span of time. The holy trinity should give the Spurs defenders plenty to think about.