TEAM NEWS Tottenham hope to welcome Gareth Bale back after he missed the win over Sunderland with an ankle problem. Jermain Defoe is rated as doubtful, while Aaron Lennon definitely misses out due to a hamstring tear. Chelsea await news on whether captain John Terry will be fit after he jarred his Achilles and was forced to limp out of training. The Brazilian pair of David Luiz and Ramires also missed training earlier in the week but are expected to be fit. MATCH PREVIEW The days when Chelsea took to calling White Hart Lane 'Three Point Lane' following an extraordinary run of results against Tottenham are long gone. It is six years since the Blues won at Spurs' ground in the league and, given the two sides' respective displays so far this season, Harry Redknapp's team will go into the match as favourites. Continue reading the main story After all, this is Tottenham's second-best start to a season in their 129-year history, surpassed only by their double-winning team of 1960-61. There were fears that defeat to Stoke in their previous game could derail their start, but Sunday's resolute win over Sunderland gave further credence to Sir Alex Ferguson's belief that Tottenham have been the top-flight's most impressive team this season. For a team that relies on pace from the wings, being deprived of Gareth Bale before kick-off and then losing fellow wideman Aaron Lennon midway through the first-half could have left Spurs in the lurch. But a tactical reshuffle from Redknapp proved to be a masterstroke and Roman Pavlyuchenko stepped off the bench to score the winner. After their crucial win over Manchester City, Chelsea were brought back down to earth with a bump as strugglers Wigan nicked a late draw. Every step forward that Andre Villas-Boas takes in the early stages of his managerial career at Chelsea seems to be followed by one back. Lose at Tottenham and any dreams of handing demanding owner Roman Abramovich the title in his first season at Stamford Bridge will seemingly be all but gone. One player Abramovich will be admiring from the stands will be Tottenham's Luka Modric, for whom the clubs fought out a long and protracted transfer battle this summer. Tottenham won and the Croatian must now be feeling quite glad that his move was vetoed by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, given the turmoil and unrest that has beset the Blues this season. MATCH FACTS Head-to-head Chelsea have not won at White Hart Lane in their last five visits since a 2-0 victory in 2005. Prior to that they had gone 17 league matches undefeated at White Hart Lane, a run that stretched back to August 1987. Tottenham went an English record 32 league games without a win in this fixture until a 2-1 victory at White Hart Lane in November 2006. Victory for Tottenham would be their 50th of all time over Chelsea in all competitions. Chelsea have 60 wins. Tottenham The 1956/57 season is the only previous time Tottenham have won 11 and drawn one of their first 15 matches. That season they finished second, eight points behind Manchester United's 'Busby Babes'. Only once have they started a season better than this - the double-winning campaign of 1960-61. Each of Roman Pavlyuchenko's last four Premier League goals have been scored from outside the box, after none of his first 16 were. Against Sunderland, Tottenham failed to have a shot on target in the first half of a home game in the league for the first time since August 2008 (1-2 v Sunderland). Tottenham have conceded 997 goals in Premier League history. Chelsea Four of the last six goals Chelsea have conceded in the league have come after the 85th minute. Daniel Sturridge has scored eight league goals this season - double that of Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres combined. Chelsea have used all three permitted substitutions in every league match this season, the only team in the top flight to do so. Didier Drogba needs three goals to total 100 in the Premier League for the Blues, and just one to total 150 for the club in all competitions.
It is six years since the Blues won at Spurs' ground in the league -------------------------------------------------------------- Fancy that, the same barren spell for the Goons and their quest for a Pot!
Honestly, I'm expecting heartbreak and disappointment, due to long training as a Chicago Cubs fan, and despite being a Pittsburgh Steelers fan as well. But I realized there was a good omen today. Before this weekend, both Spurs and the Pittsburgh Steelers had ten wins and three losses. I don't know why I think that's a good omen, by the way.
I really do hope that Harry plays with Walker and Bale as wing-backs, and a midfield of Moddy, Sandro and Parker. Pav & Ade up front would be nice, but I suspect that he'll put VDV in just behind Ade.
VDV may get a bit more space against AVB's Chelsea than against other teams, like Stoke and Sunderland - should allow him to be a bit more influential so I think he should play. As I said in another thread - the key for us is pace as Chelsea's backline could be exposed by Bale etc so we need to set up to exploit that as we do usually. I think it could be a tight match - Chelsea are a bit weird this season - enough talent to hurt anyone with players like Mata and Sturridge. We definitely need to approach the game with caution - hopefully we can get King in defence again but if we can't Kaboul & Gallas should do fine. All said and done I think we're slight favourites, especially being at home and I reckon a 2-1 win - Drogba will score if he plays - he pretty much always scores against us.
You would play Pav instead of VDV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111 It's all about opinions HIAG, but that's about as wrong as it gets VDV is an absolute cert to play v Chelsea and will be an absolutely key figure
I think Harry will opt for this starting XI... Friedel Walker - Kaboul - King or Gallas - Assou-Ekotto Parker - Sandro Van der Vaart - Modric - Bale Adebayor
Hi Morpheus - much more reasonable than HIAG's left field call, which I'm still reeling from However to remind those who may have forgotten, who set up the goal for Pav - VDV - who played the best passes in the match VDV - he wasn't great v Sunderland, but he was the best mid/attacker on the pitch. VDV is needed against teams like Sunderland and Chelsea, in fact all teams, he's one of the jewels in our crown.
That's my team too 6061, and exactly that formation too, it's the 4-2-3-1 I've been backing now for months. I'm glad you haven't joined the heretics who would drop VDV Burn them, I say, burn them Luckily I can laugh about it, because I know, if fit, VDV is playing on Thursday.
Almost certainly the team Harry will pick if Bale is ok.Sandro seems to be getting fit again and was great in the 2nd half against Sunderland.Should be close but i think at home we should have enough to win it.
Caution! No, playing teams like Chelsea will be more of an open game than teams like Stoke. This gives us a chance to play to our strengths. Attack, attack! To paraphrase: Not boring them into defeat but going for the glory with attacking play that the Russian craves. Let's show him how it's done.
I think the Terry case could change the nature of this game completely. If the CPS come out this afternoon and say they're prosecuting Terry, he'll still be allowed this game. But boy, what a cloud will be over him.
I read on another site that Bale and Defoe both trained yesterday. Assuming that's true, that strengthens my suspicion that no way did Bale have a sprained ankle. I've noticed before that some people in the media/football circles use that word very loosely to the point of cluelessness. A sprained ankle is a serious matter that takes weeks to recover from. So great news about Bale, he didn't sprain his ankle is my view, or it's the mildest of mildest sprains. It's a bit like a lot of men confuse a cold and flu
Looked back to his old self in that game. Just really hope Ledley can heal for tomorrow, we'll need him big time to try and nullify the threat of Drogba.
I would prefer the Terry verdict not to come out before the game as he plays better when challenged like that. We have so many options; and everyone has their opinion of who should play. Let's just hope that Harry's opinion is the correct one- that's what he gets paid for.
The Terry verdict is definitely coming out before the game, it's over all the news, it's just a case of whether he'll be charged or not. Harry has plenty of options it's true, but the opinion to drop VDV is frankly ......... well I won't say what I think, because I don't want to fall out with HIAG, but as you say Harry is in charge, and VDV will play, thankfully.
On sky sports now, 'Bale major doubt for Thursday' keeps scrolling across the screen, can't find any up to date report supporting it yet though.
Oh dear, that's terrible news. Is it mind games, is it a sprain, did he train yesterday, all will be revealed, or not Luckily we do have options 3-5-2 Gallas King/Bassong Kaboul Walker Sandro Parker Modric BAE/Townsend/Rose VDV Ade is one or go '4-4-2' with JD & Ade and VDV Sandro Parker Modric, with Sandro and Parker doing much of VDV's 'defensive side' of the equation effectively '4-3-3' if you like
