Tottenham v Chelsea: Blues capable without Terry

Andre Villas Boas will have been anticipating this fixture before the ink was dry on his Spurs contract and his team’s current form will have him giddier still with excitement.

Tottenham are 6/4 to beat Chelsea, who never really gave AVB the time of day during his short tenure, and the Blues haven’t won a league game at the Lane in six attempts.

Spurs’ record in hosting London derbies is another cause for optimism – they haven’t lost in 20 clashes with local rivals, 13 of which they’ve won.

Chelsea come into the game as underdogs, despite being top of the table and five points better off than the north Londoners. This was the case ahead of their previous jaunt across the capital, in which they won at Arsenal.

They can be backed at 13/8 for the win, but will be without captain John Terry, who starts his four-game racism ban.

However, the Blues have proved that they can manage without him this season, keeping three clean sheets in the games he hasn’t started. With Gary Cahill and David Luiz marshalling the defence, they’re priced at 5/2 to record a fourth clean sheet.

This is a bet worth avoiding, however, as both teams to score is the one that possesses the most potential for success.

It’s short at 8/13, but when you consider the fact that 12 of the past 17 tussles between the pair have resulted in both keepers being beaten, it’s well worth lumping on.

Tottenham have only kept one Premier League clean sheet this term and it’s tough to envisage them resisting the attacking talent boasted by Roberto Di Matteo’s men.

This will leave them little option other than to bomb forward if they want to get something from the game and, given that they are more than capable in the final third, they’re likely to reap the rewards.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date