Tottenham v Chelsea!

The North London derby is no longer the only premiere derby in London nowadays. With Chelsea now firmly a powerhouse of football in England, their derbies against Arsenal and Tottenham are now huge affairs, and games that Premier League fans look forward to.

This weekend, Jose Mourinho faces his former protege, Andre Villas-Boas, for the first time ever when he takes his Chelsea side to White Hart Lane.

Tottenham along with bitter rivals, Arsenal, currently lead the Premier League at this stage on 12 points ahead of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool on 10. While it's far too early to consider who will really be in the title race, a good performance by either Tottenham or Chelsea today could lay a marker for the rest of the season.

Paulinho

This is quite a big game for Tottenham after their heavy summer spending. They have won 4 out of 5 games but those 4 wins have come against sides not expected to challenge them for a top 4 spot, i.e. Crystal Palace, Swansea, Norwich and Cardiff. Indeed, their first game against one of their contenders, ended in a 1-0 defeat albeit at Arsenal.

AVB knows that to really be contenders, Tottenham need to beat the big teams at home and given their form so far at home and the talent they have, the signs are pretty good for Tottenham to start an unbeaten record at least against the likes of both Manchester clubs, Chelsea, Arsenal, etc.

Spurs' Danish maestro

Another encouraging sign is that loss to Arsenal came before the arrival of Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen from Ajax. Since starting for Spurs against Norwich, Eriksen has made quite a difference - he is the sort of player that Spurs have missed since Luka Modric left for Real Madrid, and provides the intuitive passing and attacking play that makes their attack even more potent.

Will Juan Mata feature for Chelsea today?

So come lunchtime, expect lots of fireworks - if lots of chances, maybe not much goals given Tottenham's recent record. Expect Chelsea to be under a lot of fire from Spurs' much vaunted summer purchases.

Here are some highlights from past Tottenham v Chelsea encounters (at White Hart Lane)