Luckily for fans of English Premier League football, London Bridge hasn't fallen down just yet, though it figures to shake a bit when Tottenham Hotspur welcomes Chelsea to White Hart Lane on Thursday.
Spurs bounced back beautifully from a disappointing defeat at Stoke City with a 1-0 win over Sunderland on their home pitch.
The Blues, meanwhile, fell prey to a fit of the exact opposite—a stunning draw with lowly Wigan on the heels of an equally enthralling 2-1 victory over previously-unbeaten Manchester City.
Expect to see some malice near the Palace when these two sides, neck-and-neck in the league table, face off for the first time this season.
Where: White Hart Lane, London, England
When: Thursday, December 22 at 3:00 p.m. EST
Watch: ESPN2, Sky Sports 1/HD, Sky Calcio 1, ESPN HD Brasil, ESPN Caribbean, ESPN8 (The Ocho), SuperSport 3, Abu Dhabi Sports, Digi Sport Hungary,Tring Sport 1, SportKlub Serbia, Diema, Canal Plus Urheilu, NovaSports 1, Viasat Fotball Sweden, Sport.TV Liga Inglesa, SuperSport HD 3, SuperSport Maximo, SuperSport Action, Sport TV4, Canal+ Fútbol / HD, J Sports 4, SuperSport 3 Africa, SuperSport 3 Nigeria, SuperSport 10, Viasat Premier League, SuperSport Internet 3, SuperSport HD 3 Nigeria, Canal+ Gol Polska, DIGI sport Cz, Digi Sport 2 Romania, Sport 1 Russia, SportKlub Slovenia, TV2 Sport PL Danmark
Live Stream: ESPN3
Player to Watch for Tottenham: Emmanuel Adebayor
Among all of his brilliant machinations in recent months—adding Scott Parker, (temporarily) quelling Luka Modric's desire to bolt for Chelsea and fashioning one of the more exciting sides in the EPL to name a few—the move for which Harry Redknapp deserves the most credit is bringing in Emmanuel Adebayor on loan from Manchester City.
Certainly, City aren't any worse off without Ade, though he's done well to turn Tottenham into legitimate contenders in the Premiership. At present, the striker-for-hire leads Spurs with eight goals and five assists as the chief benefactor of the brilliance brewing between Modric, Parker, Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart.
Player to Watch for Chelsea: Juan Mata
There's a reason Frank Lampard hasn't been on the pitch much this season, and his name is Juan Mata.
The 25-year-old Spaniard has been an absolute star since arriving at Stamford Bridge from Valencia this summer, notching three goals and a club-high seven assists while breathing new life into an aging attack.
Expect Mata, who doubles as Andre Villas-Boas' on-pitch avatar, to make at least a handful of dazzling plays in this one, as he seems to do so often.
Key Matchup: Ade vs. John Terry
As discussed above, Adebayor has had the run of play in just about every appearance he's made for Spurs this season.
He won't figure to find life so easy, though, against old foe John Terry. These two are eminently familiar with one another, dating back to Ade's days with Arsenal, and figure to reacquaint at some point during the match.
Whether Terry can do much to limit Ade's freedom on the pitch is another story entirely.
Terry, the skipper of England's national team, suffered a rather nasty knock to his ankle during Chelsea's draw with Wigan this past weekend. He's expected to play on Thursday but isn't likely to be at or near 100 percent.
The farther Terry finds his fitness from that mark, the easier it will be for Adebayor and the Spurs' thrilling attack to carve up Chelsea's vulnerably high line.
What They're Saying
Spurs won't be at full strength for Thursday's match—or even for several weeks after it, for that matter.
According to ESPN Soccernet, Aaron Lennon is likely to miss significant time with a hamstring tear, while Bale and Defoe may well be sidelined with knocks of their own. Said Harry Redknapp of his current predicament:
"Lennon felt the hamstring tear. He's got no chance for Thursday. It'll be weeks, if it's a tear.
"We'll see about Bale. He's sprained his ankle. He just did it in training. There's every chance Defoe will be fit."
For Chelsea, as if having to compete against longtime transfer target Luke Modric wasn't bad enough, they will have to soothe their wounded egos after being spurned by another international star.
This time, the distinction belongs to Chilean winger Eduardo Vargas, who confirmed over the weekend that he'd chosen Napoli over a cushy job in West London, telling Radio Cooperativa:
"Yes I will be joining Napoli, a large team in Italy. I'm sure I'll do very well there. I know [Edinson] Cavani and [Ezequiel] Lavezzi.
"I am very happy that everything was tied up quickly, and for me to play in Italy is a dream come true.''
Ironically enough, the Blues will also get an up-close-and-personal look at Vargas and his South American mates when Chelsea faces Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League series in February.
Prediction: Tottenham 2, Chelsea 1
As talented as the Blues are, they'll be hard-pressed to keep pace with Spurs, who are in as good of form as just about any club in the EPL right now. This one will be fiercely entertaining throughout, though Tottenham's terrific attack will be too much for Chelsea's leaky back line to seal off entirely.
Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Los Angeles Dodgers Minnesota Twins New York Yankees Oakland Athletics
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen