What a cracking game we have in store for you from White Hart Lane on Saturday morning, as London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea (7:45am ET on NBCSN and watch live online via NBC Sports Live Extra) clash in a key early season matchup.
Heading into the Capital clash, much of the talk has been about the strained relationship between the two head coaches, Jose Mourinho and Andre Villas-Boas. The latter worked under Mourinho at FC Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, but revealed this week that the two are “not friends.” Which should add some extra spice to this occasion... as if the game need that.
The team news has arrived, with Villas-Boas naming an unchanged side from their league win over Cardiff last Sunday. As for Mourinho, he completely reshuffles his Chelsea side once again, as Fernando Torres and David Luiz come into the starting lineup after being left out of the first XI against Fulham last week.
Juan Mata is only on the bench, but that’s an improvement on last week.
You can watch the game live on NBCSN from 7:45am ET and online via NBC Sports Live Extra.
LINEUPS
Tottenham: Lloris; Walker, Naughton, Dawson, Vertonghen; Paulinho, Dembele, Townsend, Eriksen, Sigurdsson; Soldado. Subs: Friedel, Chirches, Lamela, Holtby, Chadli, Sandro, Defoe.
Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, D Luiz, Terry, Cole; Mikel, Lampard; Ramires, Oscar, Hazard; Torres. Subs: Schwarzer, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Essien, Mata, Schurrle, Eto’o.