Tottenham
will be looking to stretch their unbeaten run to 13 league games when they
face Premier League champions Chelsea at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
For Tottenham it will be their third consecutive London derby after drawing
with Arsenal and beating West Ham United while Chelsea have won their last
two games in all competitions after a horrendous start to the campaign.
Jose Mourinho's team sit 15th in the Premier League while Tottenham are 5th
and on the longest unbeaten run of any team in the top flight as they
prepare for the visit of the London rivals just three days after a 5,000
mile round trip to Azerbaijan.
Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino has called for help from the
Premier League on the fixture calendar for teams in Europe but Spurs go into
Sunday's game with Mourinho tipping them as contenders for the title.
Team news
England midfielder Alli serves a one-match ban after collecting his fifth
booking of the season against West Ham last weekend.
Kyle Walker, Mousa Dembele and Danny Rose return after they were rested for
Thursday's Europa League win over Qarabag, but Erik Lamela (groin), Nabil
Bentaleb, Nacer Chadli and Alex Pritchard (all ankle) are set to to miss out
again.
John Terry is a major doubt for Chelsea after suffering an ankle injury in
the 4-0 win against Maccabi Tel Aviv but will be given as long as possible
to prove his fitness
Cesc Fabregas (toe) is fit but striker Radamel Falcao (undisclosed) and
goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (knee) are still unavailable although nearing
returns.
Opta stats
Spurs' 5-3 victory in this fixture on New Year's Day ended a run of nine
league games without a win against their London rivals (D5 L4).
Eden Hazard has scored in his last three league appearances against Spurs.
Chelsea have won one of their last seven away league games (L5 D1) and just
one of their last nine league trips to White Hart Lane (D4 L4).
Kane has scored seven goals in his last four league matches, while Spurs
have fired in more shots on target this season than any other team in the
top flight (88).
Spurs have lost two of their last 20 home league matches (W12 D6).
The Blues have scored three goals in their last four league matches.
Spurs are unbeaten in their last 12 league matches - they have never gone 13
unbeaten in the Premier League era and the last time they did in the league
was in March 1985 (14 games in total).
Cesc Fabregas has provided 11 league assists against Tottenham Hotspur; five
more than against any other Premier League opponent.
Merson's prediction
You have to feel for Tottenham a bit in this game, to have the season
they've had so far and then when Chelsea come to town, they've just got back
from Qarabag. It's a big ask after a six-hour journey.
Chelsea fell over the line against Norwich and had an easy game against
Maccabi Tel Aviv. I'm going for a draw but I wouldn't at all be surprised if
Chelsea went on and won this.
If Chelsea win this against a Spurs side who have only lost once this season
in the league, people will sit up. You would start thinking they can get top
four, especially with the way the Premier League has gone this season.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (5/1 with Sky Bet)
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