Chelsea v Tottenham – Saturday 24th March – Stamford Bridge (14:45)
Chelsea v Tottenham
Chelsea and their caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo are riding the crest of a wave and will feel rather confident as they welcome arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur for a London Derby showdown at Stamford Bridge. Such has been the Blues’ change in fortunes that they enjoyed a kind draw against Benfica in the quarter final of the UEFA Champions League last Friday, thereby avoiding the ‘big four’. Just three weeks ago the Londoners were in total disarray, battling on all fronts and enduring a painful defeat to West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns. That seems a long time ago as they have now won four on the trot under Di Matteo, three of which came in cup competitions whilst the lone league win was a painstaking effort against an organized ten-man Stoke City outfit.
It hasn’t been plain sailing for Di Matteo who started with a 2-0 victory at Birmingham before the Stoke result. Thereafter, they sparked to life with a gutsy performance against a very classy Napoli side that earned them a place in the Champions League quarter-final. Of course, last weekend the Stamford Bridge faithful were treated to a seven-goal thriller against Leicester City in the last 16 of the FA Cup in which The Blues triumphed 5-2. The most encouraging part of the victory though has to be striker Fernando Torres finally hitting the back of the net following a goal drought of more than 25 hours. Di Matteo later commented, “I thought Fernando had a terrific game, he fought very hard for the team and managed to score a couple of goals too. It’s wonderful for him. I have a lot of belief in him and the other players. He works so hard and in life if you do that you will get rewarded for it.” Torres will need to build on that as prior to this fixture against Spurs, Chelsea would have endured a tough trip away to Manchester City on Wednesday in their bid to hunt down fellow Londoners Tottenham and Arsenal for the two remaining Champions League spots.
Spurs are in free-fall following three consecutive league defeats and was seemingly battling against premiership strugglers Bolton when their FA Cup match was abandoned last weekend. They, on the other hand would have had an intriguing match against Stoke City at White Hart Lane in midweek. Tottenham were dealt a huge blow recently with news that Captain Michael Dawson has been ruled out for the rest of the season. Other permanent absentees are Aaron Lennon and Tom Huddlestone whilst Emmanuel Adebayor and Ledley King are doubtful starters for this match. That leaves the current third placed team rather thin in a game that they can ill-afford to lose.
Most often the formbook can be thrown out of the window when it comes to derby games but Chelsea look ominous and if anything are improving with every match under Di Matteo. These two played out to a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane in December but Tottenham will find it very tough to repeat that. Needless to say, Chelsea are confidently tipped to record the victory and close the gap on Spurs.
Finally, a special mention has to go out to the White Hart Lane faithful who displayed such emotion during Fabrice Muamba’s trying times on their pitch. It further enhanced how our wonderful sport can bring the world together as one. Of course, Gary Cahill’s tribute to his former teammate also displayed this and then various teams around the world showed their support for Muamba. My final words are “Let’s pray for Muamba.”
