Spurs vs Chelsea - we need to crush the top of the table

Tottenham defenders Kyle Walker and Jan Vertonghen are back from suspension and are expected to start.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte welcomes back Pedro from suspension but his replacement Willian, scored twice against Stoke City. Marcos Alonso is expected to have overcome his minor ankle injury.

Michael Owen on BetVictor gives his Tottenham vs Chelsea review.

“The final PL game of the Festive period could turn out to be the best with the possibility that the Blues could equal Arsenal’s long-standing record for the number of PL wins on the spin (14) if they win at White Hart Lane. 

“This is a game just too close to call although I do expect to see goals in a game which I expect to see played in a white-hot atmosphere.”

Ian Wright in the Sun rated Dembele as the most important Spurs player versus Chelsea and gives an insight into how Tottenham could win.

“Dembele is Tottenham’s biggest weapon in the toughest challenge facing any team at the moment — beating Chelsea. When Dembele is fit and strong and on top of his game, there is nobody better in the Premier League at running at defences. 

“Not so much in a physical way but with his momentum and technical ability to put players under the cosh in front of their own goal. Dembele goes through the gears so smoothly that his strength can be dangerously underestimated. At full pace he is virtually impossible to shove off the ball. 

“If he can bulldoze past [N’Golo] Kante and [Nemanja] Matic he is then able to find Harry Kane or Dele Alli. A threaded pass and Spurs are in. Moses is learning defending on the job. He leaves gaps behind as he bombs on and those need to be exploited by Dele and Kane.”

This is certainly a game where our big players have got to produce the goods, not for 45 minutes as we did at Stamford Bridge, but for the whole 90 minutes. The half-time team talk has become an even more vital ingredient in football today with many a game going one way until the opposing manager makes a tactical change at half-time to counteract the tactics one side is employing. That was what happened in the first game between us this season, we dominated for 45 minutes, then a half-time team talk changed things.

We won't be short of determination or motivation. It is an important game for our season, we need a performance. Liverpool have dropped 2 surprising points, our game might be tough but we need to capitalise and crush the top of the table a little more.

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