Played
October 20, 2012 7:45 AM EDT
White Hart Lane — London
Referee: M. Dean
Attendance: 36060
October 20, 2012 7:45 AM EDT
White Hart Lane — London
Referee: M. Dean
Attendance: 36060
Premier League Preview: Tottenham - Chelsea
Roberto Di Matteo's side has started the season in superb form and goes into the game sitting top of the league, but it now faces a stern examination of its title credentials.
By James McManus
| PROBABLE LINEUPS |
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TOTTENHAM
 Lloris Walker, Caulker, Gallas, Vertonghen Dembele, Sandro Lennon, Dempsey, Bale Defoe |
Chelsea
 Cech Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Cole Mikel, Ramires Mata, Oscar, Hazard Torres |
Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas comes up against Chelsea for the first time as a manager since being sacked after an unsuccessful spell at the helm last year. He could welcome the return of both Kyle Naughton and Jake Livermore from their foot and groin injuries in time for the fixture.
The trip looks as if it will come too early for Benoit Assou-Ekotto, though, and he should miss out with a knee injury. Younes Kaboul and Scott Parker remain long-term absentees.
Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo will be without captain John Terry for the game after he accepted his four-game ban for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, but Daniel Sturridge could return from a hamstring injury.
Elsewhere, Frank Lampard and Ryan Bertrand remain doubtful having both missed England duty with a virus and calf complaint.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
Tottenham is currently on a nine-game unbeaten run, having not tasted defeat since the opening day of the season away at Newcastle.
- The side has won its last four league games on the bounce.
- Its start of 14 points from their opening seven league games has only been bettered once, back in 2009-10 when it took 15 points from the same number of games.
- White Hart Lane is becoming something of a fortress for Spurs of late, having won 15 of their last 21 home matches, losing just twice.
- Andre Villas-Boas (pictured right) emerged victorious in exactly half of his 40 matches in charge of Chelsea.
- Chelsea has not won at White Hart Lane in its last six visits.
- Should it lose to Tottenham, it will be left with the same record that Villas-Boas had from his first eight league games in charge.
- So far this season, it has yet to concede a goal in the second half of any match, the only side in the top flight to do so.
- The Blues have kept four clean sheets already this term, whereas last season in total they managed just 10.
Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
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Tottenham 1-3 Chelsea
- 20.57 %
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Tottenham 1-2 Chelsea
- 14.13 %
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Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea
- 10.37 %
| English Premier League (EPL) (EPL) | May 8, 2013 | Chelsea 2 - Tottenham 2 |
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| English Premier League (EPL) (EPL) | Oct 20, 2012 | Tottenham 2 - Chelsea 4 |
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| FA Cup (FA) | Apr 15, 2012 | Tottenham 1 - Chelsea 5 |
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| English Premier League (EPL) (EPL) | Mar 24, 2012 | Chelsea 0 - Tottenham 0 |
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| English Premier League (EPL) (EPL) | Dec 22, 2011 | Tottenham 1 - Chelsea 1 |
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Tottenham
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| May 19, 2013 | Tottenham 1 - Sunderland 0 | EPL |
| May 12, 2013 | Stoke 1 - Tottenham 2 | EPL |
| May 8, 2013 | Chelsea 2 - Tottenham 2 | EPL |
| May 4, 2013 | Tottenham 1 - Southampton 0 | EPL |
| Apr 27, 2013 | Wigan Athletic 2 - Tottenham 2 | EPL |
Chelsea
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| May 19, 2013 | Chelsea 2 - Everton 1 | EPL |
| May 15, 2013 | Benfica 1 - Chelsea 2 | EL |
| May 11, 2013 | Aston Villa 1 - Chelsea 2 | EPL |
| May 8, 2013 | Chelsea 2 - Tottenham 2 | EPL |
| May 5, 2013 | Manchester United 0 - Chelsea 1 | EPL |
| 24 | Brad Friedel | Goalkeeper |
| - | Jan Vertonghen | Defender |
| 13 | William Gallas | Defender |
| 28 | Kyle Walker | Defender |
| 45 | Steven Caulker | Defender |
| 23 | Clint Dempsey | Midfielder |
| 7 | Aaron Lennon | Midfielder |
| 22 | Gylfi Sigurdsson | Midfielder |
| 30 | Sandro | Midfielder |
| 6 | Tom Huddlestone | Midfielder |
| 18 | Jermain Defoe | Striker |
| 25 | Hugo Lloris | Goalkeeper |
| 28 | Kyle Naughton | Defender |
| 20 | Michael Dawson | Defender |
| 29 | Jake Livermore | Midfielder |
| - | Andros Townsend | Midfielder |
| 10 | Emmanuel Adebayor | Striker |
| - | Iago Falqué | Striker |
| 1 | Petr Cech | Goalkeeper |
| 2 | Branislav Ivanovic | Defender |
| 3 | Ashley Cole | Defender |
| 4 | David Luiz | Defender |
| 24 | Gary Cahill | Defender |
| 7 | Ramires | Midfielder |
| 11 | Oscar | Midfielder |
| 12 | John Obi Mikel | Midfielder |
| 17 | Eden Hazard | Midfielder |
| 9 | Fernando Torres | Striker |
| 10 | Juan Mata | Striker |
| 22 | Ross Turnbull | Goalkeeper |
| 28 | César Azpilicueta | Defender |
| 34 | Ryan Bertrand | Defender |
| 6 | Oriol Romeu | Midfielder |
| 8 | Frank Lampard | Midfielder |
| 13 | Victor Moses | Midfielder |
| 15 | Daniel Sturridge | Striker |
Results
Times In EDT
Live
Final
scheduled
Suspended
Cancelled
Postponed
Match News
Top Scorers
| Player | Goals | Penalties | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Robin van Persie Striker Man United |
26 | 3 |
|
Luis Suárez Striker Liverpool |
23 | 0 |
|
Gareth Bale Midfielder Tottenham |
21 | 0 |
|
C. Benteke Striker Aston Villa |
19 | 3 |
|
Michu Midfielder Swansea City |
19 | 0 |
