MATCH PREVIEW: Spurs vs Chelsea FC; AVB vs Jose and much more at stake!

Tottenham Hotspurs will welcome their London rivals Chelsea FC at White Hart Lane this Saturday. The major talking point of this fixture is definitely the battle between the “Teacher” & the “Apprentice”. Both sets of fans can expect a compelling tactical duel between the two sides. Over the last few seasons, this tie has thrown up intriguing football scenarios and with Spurs strengthening this summer, the contest is expected to be heated.
This week, things nearly got out of control in the war of words between the two bosses as AVB claimed that the result of their broken relationship was derived by the ambition he had to have a bigger role in Jose’s management team while they were at Inter Milan. He said he wanted to be involved more with match preparation and be an assistant to Jose which the Special one rejected as to not wanting any one to assist him in that regard. And here is Jose’s response to that claim…

“I had so many assistants in my career, I was always an open book to all of them. I am trying to do the same now in Chelsea with Chris Jones, Steve Holland, people that are working with me for the first time. I try to be also an open book to the coaches in the Academy. I am an open book, after that if they want to read the book or not, it’s their problem, not my problem.”

DATE & TIME: September 28, 2013 at 07:45 EDT; September 28, 2013 at 11:45 GMT; September 28, 2013 at 12:45 BST; September 28, 2013 at 12:45 WAT; September 28, 2013 at 13:45 CAT; September 28, 2013 at 14:45 EAT; September 28, 2013 at 17:15 IST.
VENUE: White Hart Lane, London, United Kingdom.
TV/STREAMING NEWS: Chelsea TV will stream the game live. The match will be telecast live on Fox Sports 3 in Australia, SuperSport 3 Africa in African sub-continent, Sportsnet Ontario in Canada, Al Jazeera Sport Hd1/HD6 in Egypt, Sky Sport 1 in Germany, ESPN HD & Star Sports 2 in India, Fox Sports HD in Italy, Gol Stadium, Gol T & Canal+ Futbol in Spain, Al Jazeera Sport HD1/HD6 in UAE, Sky Sports 3D & BBC One in UK and NBC Sports Network in USA.
CHELSEA FC SQUAD NEWS: Chelsea are without Marco van Ginkel, who underwent surgery for cruciate ligament on his right knee after the unfortunate injury against Swindon Town. Ramires, who is recovering from a hip problem, will be in match-day squad as already confirmed by Mourinho. Kalas & Omeruo are back in training but probably not in contention for this match. There are no suspensions.
Predicted Starting XI: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole, Mikel, Lampard, Schuerrle, Oscar, Hazard, Eto’o.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR SQUAD NEWS: Tottenham will miss Sandro & Etienne Capoue due to injury. Younus Kaboul, Nacer Chadli & Aaron Lennon are also doubtful.
Predicted Starting XI: Lloris, Walker, Vertonghen, Dawson, Rose, Dembele, Paulinho, Lamela, Erikksen, Sigurddson, Soldado.
REFEREE: Mike Dean.
TACTICAL OVERVIEW: Spurs boast of a balanced side. New signing Erikksen & defensive pillar Vertonghen have arguably been their best players. Spurs have the best defensive record among all clubs in Europe at the moment, letting in just 1 goal in the last 810 minutes. Although they have failed to create clear-cut chances, Spurs have managed to nick in goals which have given them a 2 point edge over Chelsea. The game will clearly sway in favor of the team who wins the midfield battle. Spurs main weakness lies in their fullbacks whose positioning abilities are a question. Fast counter-attack, especially through the wings, will result in effective creation of chances for the Blues. Fellow CFC 360 blogger, Sherry has already done an analysis of AVB’s Tottenham which will help you understand the Spurs game play better.
Fun Trivia:

• Both Andre Villas-Boas and Jose Mourinho were mentored and attribute their success to Bobby Robson who worked with the pair at FC Porto.
• Andre Villas-Boas was a youth team manager at FC Porto in 2002 when Jose Mourinho returned their as first team manager. That’s when Jose gave him a chance to scout opponents and prepare a dossier.
• After a hugely successful reign at FC Porto with the club winning the 2004 Champions League under Jose, AVB followed the special one to Stamford Bridge in his new coaching staff in England.
• Three years and 6 trophies at Chelsea, Andre Villas-Boas followed Jose to Inter Milan in after Jose left Chelsea in September 2007 under ‘mutual consent’.
• Jose Mourinho used to call Andre Villas-Boas his “right hand man and ear” as he relied heavily on AVB’s scouting reports to study opponents and master plan a winning formula.
• At Inter, AVB felt he had the potential to be his assistant and one day become a manager after completing his coaching badges in Jose’s 2nd year in charge at San Siro.
• The rift finally happened as Jose felt no need of adding Andre as his assistant which result in AVB taking up a role in Portuguese club Acadamica Coimbra. Then, he went on to become FC Porto’s manager while Jose won a treble at Inter and left for the Bernabeu.

IN A NUTSHELL: The result of this match will probably not play an important role in the league standings eight months later, but it will help the layman judge where both clubs stand today. Moreover, taking off points from a top six rival and setting into a momentum of sorts will help either club to challenge for the title in the long run.
The two managers have never faced one-on-one in any game previously and it will be the first time we see both men in a London derby in two different dug outs. Last year’s corresponding fixture at White heart lane resulted in a 4-2 away win for the blues as 2 players that AVB signed for Chelsea scored 3 of our 4 goals. Juan Mata, man of the match in that occasion managed to score 2 after Gary Cahill’s stunning volley that opened the score. Daniel Sturridge then added our 4th late on to wrap up all 3 points in AVB’s first game against his former club.
Spurs have won only three of their 42 Premier League games against Chelsea. Chelsea have not failed to score in three successive Premier League away games since April 2002. The last three competitive meetings between Tottenham and Chelsea have produced a total of 16 goals in total (an average of 5.3 per game). Tottenham have conceded more Premier League home goals to Chelsea (38) than any other team. Chelsea have only conceded 22 goals in 21 Premier League outings at White Hart Lane. Five of Tottenham’s last six Premier League games have ended 1-0 (W4 L1).