PREVIEW: TOTTENHAM VS CHELSEA

This Thursday night, Chelsea travel to White Hart lane to take on London rivals Tottenham. However, for the first time in a long time, Tottenham go in to the match above Chelsea as they are currently in third place, while Chelsea are two points behind in fourth.

Since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003, Chelsea have become one of the premier league’s best teams and therefore they’ve  got used to being in matches against teams who like them, are battling to be considered one of the best. However, it’s only been two seasons since Tottenham first finished in the premier league’s coveted top four so competing in these types of matches is relatively new to them.

Chelsea’s triumph over leaders Manchester City last week, twinned with Tottenham’s loss at Stoke looked to have put Chelsea back into the title race and damaged Tottenham’s chances of being in the top four come May. However, Chelsea lost all the momentum they had after their win over Manchester City, as a late Jordi Gomez goal rescued Wigan a point in a 1-1 draw on Saturday. A day later, a Roman Pavlyuchenko goal was enough to give Tottenham the three points at home to Sunderland.

A thought that deeply worries Chelsea fans is that defeat on Thursday night will leave them five points behind Tottenham, with the north London side having a game in hand. Such a situation could put manager Andre Villas-Boas under serious pressure from both the media and potentially even his own supporters, as many Chelsea fans blame the decision to take off Daniel Sturridge for Florent Malouda as a key factor in the blues dropping two points at Wigan on Saturday.

An interesting feature of this game will be Luka Modric. The 26 year-old Croat was at the centre of one of the summer’s most intriguing transfer sagas, as Chelsea offered Tottenham £22 million, and then £27 million for the midfielder’s services. In the end, Modric stayed at Tottenham and has looked just as good as ever so far this season. Thursday’s game will give Modric the opportunity to show Chelsea what they missed out on.

For Tottenham, there will be no Aaron Lennon in this match after he was injured during the game against Sunderland. Gareth Bale, who didn’t play against Sunderland due to a sprained ankle, is facing a battle to be fit for Thursday night’s game. Manager Harry Redknapp said "Bale has sprained his ankle, he just did it in training. He thought it was okay, then he went home, had a little rest and couldn't put any weight on it”.  Jermaine Defoe however, looks set to return after missing Sunday’s game.

As for Chelsea, John Terry, who had to receive medical treatment during the game against Wigan, is expected to be fit for the match.

Brazilians Ramires and David Luiz who both missed the game against Wigan should both be fit according to manager Andre Villas-Boas.

This game will be massively important for both teams, with a win for either side putting them in third place over Christmas. Although, a loss for either team would surely end their title hopes. For the neutral, this will be a great battle between two London rivals, however for the fans this will be a nerve-wracking match with the result having a huge impact on their respective team’s season.