Preview: London derby marked by AVB and Mourinho’s “broken” relationship
Tottenham Hotspur could easily brag about being the best team in London this season, although this might provoke outrageous comments from Arsenal fans who witnessed their team’s triumph in the North London derby about four weeks ago. However, Spurs can look upon their results with great satisfaction.
Numbers and records speak for themselves. Tottenham’s defence is enviable as it has managed four clean sheets out of five English Premier League games. If AVB has not celebrated too many goals (only five precisely) on the touchline, at least, he has created a team difficult to score against.
Jose Mourinho, however, will be keen to teach a lesson to his former backroom team worker. Back at Inter, the Chelsea manager reportedly refused to promote Andre-Villas Boas as his assistant coach. The latter eventually decided to part company with the Special One.
After a successful spell at FC Porto, AVB joined Spurs and for the first time ever, he will face Mourinho in the dug out. Obviously, the reunion of these two Portuguese men has marked the pre-match hype of Saturday’s lunch time kick-off.
Fans can look forward to a heated battle at White Hart Lane, especially as the hosts have proven that they can win anyhow – with a flurry of goals like they have been doing in Europe, or right at the dead with a lone strike like they did against Cardiff City in the EPL last weekend.
Chelsea, on the other hand, are only beginning to find stability after recently losing three games in a row - against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup, Everton in the EPL and FC Basel in the UEFA Champions League. And while the Juan Mata saga, Ramires’ fitness and Samuel Eto’o’s presence add up to Mourinho’s tactical headache, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Sandro issued this cry on Thursday:
“Last season we lost at home and this season we're determined to win. We have to play like we played at Villa. Let's try and take this big win.”
Where to watch the match – live stream, start time, TV channels, live scores
Watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea live on Saturday, September 28, 2013:
In Canada at 7:45 ET on: Sportsnet Ontario / East / West / Pacific, TalkSport Radio
In UK at 12:30 BST on: BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC One, BT Sport 1
In USA at 7:45 ET on: NBC Sports Live Extra, Mun2, DirecTV, TalkSport Radio, NBC Sports Network, SiriusXM FC
Other channels to telecast Spurs-Chelsea live include TV5Monde Afrique, Al Jazeera Sports HD1 and ESPN HD India. Multiple countries feature under LiveSoccerTV’s TV Schedule tab for this EPL fixture. Go on the match page for more and remember that live scores will be available on the website as the game gets underway at White Hart Lane this Saturday.
