At 17:00 GMT today, Chelsea will travel to Wembley Stadium and take on Tottenham Hotspur in what would potentially be a season-defining game for them.
After respectively enduring a tumultuous season, both London teams will be looking to book a place to face Liverpool in the FA Cup final in May. The stakes are high. For both teams, it is more than just the fact that they are both chasing that elusive Champions League spot. They are also hoping to land the most realistic silverware they can this season. And, at the end of the day, it's a derby game after all.
Spurs will be a tricky proposition, their 1-2 defeat to Norwich notwithstanding. They have got the pace, power and physicality to edge Chelsea in terms of pure athleticism. In Rafael Van Der Vart and Luka Modric they have enough creativity and flair to match Juan Mata. In Jermain Defoe, Adebayor and Louis Saha, they have a strikeforce which instills more fear in teams compared to Chelsea's Drab Four of Torres, Drogba, Kalou and Sturridge. And then Gareth Bale would probably be able to outrun the entire left flank of Chelsea at jogging pace.
Despite all that, I personally think the odds are balanced. Chelsea have the edge in terms of experience when it comes to the tense, final stages of a Cup run. The spine of Messrs Cech, Terry, Ashley Cole, Ivanovic, Lamps, Essien, Kalou and Drogba were all part of the previous incarnations of a squad who had until recent times pushed teams like Barcelona, Inter and United to the very last breath in Europe's premier Cup competition.
Spurs, for all their swashbuckling swagger of this season, simply have not been tested on the big occasion yet. If Chelsea can match Spurs' level of intensity, then there's a higher probability of their collective experience and big match temperament pulling them through to the Finals.
This is a game where Di Matteo will surely be tested to the limits. He has to be spot-on with his team selection and have one eye on resting some tired legs for the upcoming Barca semifinal. Yet, throwing away this game (by fielding a weakened second team) is not an option either, as a win today will surely lift up spirits and be a big confidence booster ahead of their clash with the Catalans.
Whatever the outcome will be, let's hope the boys in Blue put up a good fight and give it all they've got.
My scoreline prediction: a closely fought 1-0 to Chelsea, probably through a Torres winner. (cue to mocking laughter) We'll see who will have the last laugh.
:)
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