Chelsea vs Tottenham

A win could set us up nicely for the match against Arsenal on Sunday, the victory on them giving a 3 point lead over them. A defeat rather would mean we need to beat Arsenal on Sunday with a goal difference of more than 6 to move to second place in the table. Tell me Arsenal is on a low these days and I would say that they still aren't Derby. Though one day lets hope they will.

Spurs in their backyard would be difficult, though it seems a Cup final has taken its toll on them. They lost to Manchester City last week, Eriksson would be thanking the referees for that. And I read somewhere Berbatov scores his goals mainly at home, trying to do well and show-off in front of the home fans. It might be a wrong news, but worrying certainly.

Chelsea would go into this match, wanting to revenge what happened in Wembley three weeks ago. This time atleast lest hope Grant gets his formation and lineup correct. Chelsea haven't lost to the Spurs at White Hart Lane since 1987, and lets hope the saga continues. This time though, under Ramos, Spurs are lot a improved side. They have a balanced, flexible team and the only injury absentee is Ledley king. Lawson might take his place with Jonathan Woodgate.

For Chelsea, Cech is still in the sidelines due to the injury. Carvalho will return after he was rested against Sunderland because Keane and Berbatov can trouble any defense. It remains to bee seen if Makalele will be played in this game, or if he rested again considering Gunners are visiting next Sunday. So it may be Mikel, who played the last game or Essien, who some fans opine would be more effective against Spurs. I didn't get the logic behind it but would love to see him play.

Anelka, when he plays has certainly given space to Lampard and Ballack and created some good moves with Joe as well. But I still feel Drogba should be given more matches. He's our main man and we would need him reach top form when the season becomes tighter. Kalou is one person who is in good form and would not be dropped. I don't see Malouda a big threat to Kalou's position now.

I don't see any reason why Spurs, having finished in mid-table, away from relegation battle as well as European dreams, and having booked a place to Europe through the Cup win, would play with passion to win in the remainder of this season. That is clear from their performance in Midlands last weekend. It would Juande magic if he is able to motivate this team, or maybe beating Chelsea in itself is a motivation. I would certainly become a Ramos fan if Spurs beat Chelsea again, which is unlikely to happen.

Meanwhile dates of our match against Middlesbrough is announced. The game will take place on Sunday 30 March at Stamford Bridge with a 1.30pm kick-off.

Guess at the team:
Cudicini
Ferreira, Terry, Carvalho, A.Cole
Makalele, Lampard, Ballack
J.Cole, Drogba, Kalou
subs: Hilario, Anelka, Alex, Wright-Phillips, Mikel

Referee: Mike Riley

TV Timings: 0130(IST), 20/03/08.

Scoreline prediction:1-3