Premier League preview: Tottenham v Chelsea

Tottenham take on Chelsea at White Hart Lane as Harry Redknapp tries to keep pace with the leading Manchester clubs.

After a 2-1 loss at Stoke City ended their 11-game unbeaten run, Spurs bounced back at the weekend with a 1-0 win over Sunderland through a Roman Pavlyuchenko goal to remain in third place on the Premier League table.

With a game in hand and a two-point cushion over Chelsea, Spurs could close to within two points of Manchester United and four of Manchester City.

Tottenham were without Gareth Bale and Jermain Defoe against Sunderland after the Welsh winger sprained his ankle in training last week while Defoe aggravated his hamstring in Europe. Both are doubtful again for the clash with Chelsea.

Winger Aaron Lennon will be out for a number of weeks after tearing his hamstring against Sunderland.

Redknapp will continue to depend on full-backs Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Kyle Walker for attacking width down the flanks with Luka Modric pulling the strings from central midfield.

Brazilian midfielder Sandro made only his third Premier League start this season against Sunderland in Defoe and Bale’s absence, and believes a Tottenham win in the London derby will go a long way towards their title chances.

“It can give us the belief that we can win the title,” said Sandro. “If we win this game, the only way will be up for us.”

“We can make a big statement, although it will be a very difficult game. But we are playing at home and that is very good because the support is very good and that helps us.”

Chelsea had their three-game winning streak snapped by Wigan as Petr Cech’s late goalkeeping error left the Blues with a 1-1 draw.

“We have another game at Spurs and we need to get those points ideally back,” Cech said.

“They have their game in hand, they are still in the top four and they are a direct opponent for the title and for the Champions League. This makes the game even more exciting.”

The dropped points meant that Chelsea slipped to fourth, nine points adrift of leaders City.

After losing 2-1 to Liverpool at home, Chelsea had racked up two consecutive 3-0 wins over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United and a 2-1 win over City before dropping points against Wigan.

Andre Villas-Boas expects midfielder Ramires and defender David Luiz to be fit against Tottenham while John Terry is expected to play despite limping out of Monday’s training session at Stamford Bridge.