Chelsea v Tottenham

When these two teams met a few months ago Chelsea couldn’t buy a win, while Spurs still had aspirations of sustaining a title challenge of their own. Now we’ve reached the end of April and the boot is very much on the other foot. The champions have reignited their bid to retain the league, a proposition that looked increasingly unlikely until a week or so ago. Tottenham have finally exited the Champions League and look highly unlikely to return to that stage next campaign, following a run of just one win in 10 games in all competitions.

Chelsea have quietly gone about the business of becoming Manchester United’s main challengers, while Arsenal were busy tapping the self-destruct button. A run of four consecutive league wins have been achieved with three goals scored in each of the past three outings. The one black mark, the trials and tribulations of Fernando Torres, was also eased when the £50m man finally found the net against West Ham last week. The Spaniard is 9/2 to be first goalscorer in the game with Tottenham. Tempting, but there are slightly too many team-mates who could nip in ahead of him on the day.

This is not to dismiss Harry Redknapp’s side as an attacking force all together. Jermaine Defoe finally ended his goal drought against West Brom and the likes of Pavlyuchenko, Bale and van der Vaart always carry a threat. However, Spurs must have been disheartened by the latest two points dropped at White Hart Lane; the pursuit of fourth place is now looking increasingly forlorn. All the momentum is with Chelsea, and by playing first this weekend, they have a wonderful opportunity to apply maximum pressure to United by closing the gap at the top to just three points. This would give Ferguson’s side plenty to think about on their way to Arsenal on Sunday.

Chelsea will be bouyed by this prospect while Spurs look like a side running out of steam. The Blues are capable of winning this fixture with something to spare, but Spurs have the quality to ensure things don’t get embarrassing. This makes Chelsea a good bet to win by two - the odds on this are 7/2 with SkyBet.