Three Point Lane. That’s what they call Tottenham’s home. It’s not quite our story yet this season. They’ve beat us at their home and nearly eliminated us at the Bridge. With some second half heroics, Chelsea got themselves a lifeline in the FA Cup. To go to Spurs and beat them there in their current form is quite a task. They have been on fire the last few weeks. Berbatov, Lennon, Keane – all their key players are on song. Robinson scoring a goal against Watford is a good sample of how their football has been doing.

What goes up must come down. Robinson conceded one of the most bizarre goals against Croatia few months back and he must have felt so embarrassed for it. And now, he’s fecking got a goal for himself! He should have tried such a thing against Chelsea in the FA Cup match at the Bridge. With the kind of form our defence was in, he could have got an illustrious one against Chelsea. But, Cech is a millon times better than Ben Foster.

Whereas we have been little rusty, low-tempo and we win with lesser margin with not-so-impressive goals, all this helping us a long unbeaten streak since that fateful Liverpool loss at Anfield. Meanwhile, we’ve got back Terry, Boulahrouz and Ashley Cole. We’ve lost Essien for few days and still waiting for Joe Cole. Mikel would be serving his last of the four match ban. With most of the first team players available for selection, I still see Jose going for a conservative 4-4-2 with both Drogba and Sheva. In the match against Sheff Utd, when we played 4-3-3, you could see the real Chelsea power thanks to the pace and width provided by the wingers. I dont think Jose would go for a 4-3-3 especially Sheva scoring that brilliant goal and also playing impressively for the 60 mins against Sheff Utd. Also, I dont see him playing Sheva as the lone striker when Drogba is available.

In the absence of Essien and Mikel, there is not so much contest in the midfield – it would be Maka, Lampard, Ballack and Robben. The key decision will have to be taken in the selection of defenders. Khalid had a good match against Sheff Utd and he is a specialist defender. Diarra is available too and he certainly has more pace and aggression than Khalid. Whether to choose Khalid or Diarra for the right back would depend on Jose’s strategy for the match. He can keep Khalid at right back and bring on Diarra for Maka in the second half. Or pick Diarra to start and bring on Khalid, if we have operate with only three at the back. I’d prefer Diarra to start along with Terry, Carvalho and Cole.

Martin Jol rested Berbatov, Keane, Lennon and Zokora and still his team won 3-1 against Watford. In the last 8 matches in all competitons, they have scored a whopping 23 goals. Surely, not the best time to play Spurs at White Hart Lane. Against Chelsea, they scored three but those were some of the real horror stories of defending in this season’s premiership. Even if Chelsea’s defence has a decent day, we’ll be through. Spurs at the Bridge looked more threatening because we had conceded early goals and we had to chase the scorea at any cost. In the process, they could weave attack and attack and looked very dangerous. On monday, if we score the first goal, we’ll cruise our way through to the semi-finals.

Man Utd take on Boro at the Old Trafford. I dont want to predict or hope Boro to upset, because I’ll have to then see Man Utd demolish them by half a dozen goals or something. Ronaldo is now playing his best football, since he started playing for Sir Alex. Why doesnt he go to Real Madrid? They want him so badly there. Wherever he is, at the current pace, in just a year or two, he would take over the ‘best player’ tag from Ronaldinho. Couple of years back, you had to say Cristiano Ronaldo to avoid confusion involving Luiz Ronaldo but now Ronaldo refers only to Cristiano!

FA Cup is the only trophy Jose has not won in his career. He won all possible titles and cups in Portugal including Champions League. In England, he has won the community shield, Carling Cup and the Premiership but not yet the FA Cup. So, he would be very eager to get the missing piece in is trophy cabinet. This match against Tottenham would be very crucial for our ultimate success in FA Cup. I have a feeling that if we cross this hurdle of Tottenham, the semi-finals against Blackburn or the possible final against Man Utd would all be more winnable than this match. In that manner, I see this match as the FA Cup final for us.

My prediction is 2-1 for Chelsea.

{democracy:19}