Premier League preview: Tottenham v Chelsea
“Danny who?” was a common reaction when the name of Danny Rose appeared on the Tottenham Hotspur teamsheet for the midweek north London derby.
Just 10 minutes, and one sublime Roy of the Rovers-style goal later, and everyone knew who the 19-year-old England under-21 international was, not least Spurs’ next opponents Chelsea, who will hope that Rose won’t be a thorn in their title aspirations after he helped puncture Arsenal’s hopes on Wednesday night.
Against the Gunners, Rose produced the kind of rocket shot that even volcanic ash couldn’t have stopped, but Chelsea were already well aware of his potential. In 2006 they were fined £4million by the FA for making an illegal approach to Leeds United for Rose, Tom Taiwo and Michael Woods. Only Taiwo and Woods moved, Rose stayed on before joining Tottenham a year later for £1million. After one Premier League appearance, Spurs fans already think it was money well spent.
Beating Arsenal would usually be enough to satisfy Spurs fans and give them the impression that their team have had a successful season, but there are bigger rewards to reap this time around.
The midweek win has put Spurs just one point behind fourth-placed Manchester City, with Champions League football now a real possibility. So often in the shadow of their more illustrious London neighbours when it comes to European football, what a chance this is to assert themselves on the continental game, but to do that, they might just have to beat another of those illustrious London clubs, and it’s the toughest of the lot too.
Chelsea have one hand and four fingers on the title following their rivals recent slip-ups, and that grasp will become tighter if Manchester United were to fail to win at neighbours City early on Saturday afternoon. Chelsea win here, and you can start planning street parties in west London.
Tuesday night’s performance against Bolton wasn’t exactly vintage, but it got the job done, and the three points that Chelsea earned were among their most important of the campaign. That’s all that matters for title-chasing teams at this stage of the season, Carlo Ancelotti knows that, and the Italian will be stressing a professional approach in the Saturday teatime encounter. A similar approach to the one that Chelsea have produced for the majority of the campaign, in fact.
It has, in many ways, been an odd season.
No more losses would mean that Chelsea will win the league having suffered five defeats, a joint-record high in the last 10 years. Liverpool lost only twice in the last campaign and came second, and while it was draws that undid the Reds, this year’s top three appear to have ruled out that outcome. Only 14 of their 102 combined matches this season have ended all square, with none of the summit meetings between two of the three big hitters ending with the spoils shared.
Chelsea have won the big clashes when they have mattered, doing the league double over Manchester United and Arsenal and only losing to Manchester City out of the top six sides.
Saturday’s match is one of their biggest, and they’ll be ready for it.
Arsenal’s dreams may have withered and died at the hands of Rose and Tottenham, but Chelsea won’t expect to go the same way.
Prediction: Tottenham 0 Chelsea 2
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