It's still one of the fixtures many Chelsea fans look for first, and with one derby victory a piece this season, club historian Rick Glanvill and statistician Paul Dutton prepare for round three.

No longer able to approach White Hart Lane with quite such a sense of invincibility, the need for three points tomorrow is not lost on Rick.

They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but as Goldilocks found with the porridge, perhaps the Carling Cup final was too chilly. Hopefully this game will be 'just right' rather than too warm.

There is a lot to play for. This time last year it was Arsenal in third place, a distant 20 points behind leaders Manchester United but with two games in hand. Chelsea were six adrift having played the same number of games, 30.

In 2005/6, when the Blues last won the league, José Mourinho's men were a whopping 12 points clear by this time, having played 30 games. United were a distant second on 63 points having played one game fewer, and third-placed Liverpool two points behind them.

Since Chelsea can arrive level with Arsenal on points with a win tonight, and behind United only by the number of points they take from their game against Bolton, we can safely say this is the closest title race for a good few years.

A win would also set up Sunday's clash with faltering Arsenal nicely, but it is the first of the week's London derbies that we need to focus on first. Not being able to deal with Ramos' and Spurs' surprises is probably what cost us the first silverware of the season back in February.

There will be several references to that Wembley win this evening from Tottenham's crowd, of course, and rightly so. Children have been born and come of age in the time Chelsea have enjoyed bragging rights in our league meetings; at White Hart Lane Spurs have not beaten an 11-man Chelsea side in the league since August 1987.

Spurs' only top-flight win against the Blues in 18 years since February 1990 was in November 2006, and John Terry was sent off in that match by Graham Poll.

Still, a win cannot be taken for granted at 'Three Point Lane' as in the past. We might have travelled there previously thinking that their forwards lacked brains, their midfield had no heart and their rearguard showed no courage. But since October Juande Ramos has proved himself something of a Wizard Of Oz and each department appears now to have what it lacked before.

Whether the Spaniard turns out to be the equivalent of a small man with a loud hailer behind a bossy exterior, we will only discover over time.

The former Seville coach's greatest gifts to his team have been belief and organisation. Under previous managers the Lilywhites had talent but seemed to be playing off the cuff, and there is only so far such methods can take you. The biggest benefits have been seen in their midfield, where Jermaine Jenas and Didier Zokora, the pair who share defensive midfield duties, are thriving. Jenas tends to find himself in more advanced areas of the two, and most of Spurs' moves flow through him.

Either side of those two, Steed Malbranque on the left and Aaron Lennon on the right have defensive duties to fulfil but are also told to bomb forward to provide attacking width. They are usually supported by attacking full-backs Pascal Chimbonda, a right-footer playing on the left, and Alan Hutton.

Gilberto, the 31-year-old Brazilian left-back signed in January, endured a nightmare debut, giving the ball away for PSV's crucial away goal in the Uefa Cup, but has fared better since.

Other midfield options include Jamie O'Hara, who takes all set pieces when he plays, and Tom Huddlestone, seemingly the major success story of Ramos's biscuit ban along with back-in-favour goalie Paul Robinson.

The versatile formation means Spurs have a variety of points from which to play the ball into the box for Dimitar Berbatov, who is comfortable dropping deeper with his back to goal playing others in, and Robbie Keane, who prefers to run on to the ball.

Whether the Irishman, Tottenham's skipper, will be dropped for petulantly throwing down his training top when subbed in the 1-2 defeat at Eastlands remains to be seen. Ramos' Sphinx-like expression on the sidelines didn't crack.

£16.5m striker Darren Bent's goal in the 4-0 defeat of 10-man West Ham United 10 days ago was his first in the league since November and his fourth this season.

In central defence Ledley King has not yet been ruled out with his thigh injury, with Younes Kaboul or Michael Dawson ready to partner the impressive Jonathan Woodgate.

For much of the game at Manchester City, Spurs gave the lie to the notion that they would already be 'on the beach' having won one cup and crashed out of the other. It would be foolish to think they would not want to extend their enjoyment of beating Chelsea in this clash, despite succumbing so feebly in the league at Stamford Bridge back in January.

The intensity of the Blues' start at Sunderland will need to be maintained over a far longer period in this encounter because freescoring Spurs will not be as charitable as the otherwise imposing Kenwyne Jones was.

On the positive side, Chelsea are the Premier League's away-day specialists, and John Terry's first Chelsea goal since August 2006 was also his first away from the Bridge since the 2-0 win at Bolton in April the same year.

So far this season, when the chance has been there to gain a higher foothold in the Premier League against tough opposition, Chelsea have drawn or lost. Neither is an option this evening if the Blues are to overhaul Arsenal and Manchester United in this year's race for football's top prize.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR V CHELSEA - Paul Dutton with the numbers for the first of this week's big London derbies.

A win for Chelsea at White Hart Lane will put us level on points with Arsenal with the Gunners due at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Chelsea and Tottenham lock horns for the seventh occasion in the last 16 months.

In 31 games between the clubs since the Premier League started Chelsea have won 20, Tottenham have won once and there have been 10 draws, Chelsea goals 58, Spurs goals 21.

The last two times Chelsea have taken the lead and lost have been against Spurs. The defeat in the Carling Cup Final was our first for 52 games since the previous occasion in November 2006 at White Hart Lane.

Tottenham are the fourth highest scorers in the Premier League this term with 54 behind Manchester Utd 59, Arsenal 58 and Liverpool 55. Chelsea have scored 49. Only Liverpool have scored more at home than Spurs this season.

Only Derby, Newcastle, Reading, Fulham and Sunderland have conceded more goals than Tottenham's 47.

Premier League matches involving Tottenham have featured 101 goals this season.

Spurs have lost two of the last six Premier League games.

Tottenham have conceded seven goals in stoppage time, more than any other team.

The Blues have the best away record in the Premier League with 32 points from 15 games having won at Reading, Bolton, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Derby, Blackburn, Fulham, Birmingham, West Ham and Sunderland, drawn at Liverpool and Portsmouth and lost at Arsenal, Aston Villa and Man Utd.

Tottenham are unbeaten at home in the Premier League in six games (five wins and a draw) since Birmingham beat them 3-2 in early December. They have scored 20 goals in those six games.

We are unbeaten in 12 in the Premier League and six away from home (five wins, one draw).

Chelsea have won five of the last 10 games in all competitions.

In the last 19 away games we have kept 13 clean sheets and conceded only six goals.

Spurs' league record at White Hart Lane this season is won seven (Derby 4-0, Wigan 4-0, Man City 2-1, Fulham 5-1, Reading 6-4, Sunderland 2-0, West Ham 4-0), drawn two (Aston Villa 4-4, Man Utd 1-1) and lost four (Everton 1-3, Arsenal 1-3, Blackburn 1-2, Birmingham 2-3).

Our Premier League record against Spurs at White Hart Lane in full is as follows:
1992/93 Chelsea 2-1
1993/94 Drew 1-1
1994/95 Drew 0-0
1995/96 Drew 1-1
1996/97 Chelsea won 2-1
1997/98 Chelsea won 6-1
1998/99 Drew 2-2
1999/00 Chelsea won 1-0
2000/01 Chelsea won 3-0
2001/02 Chelsea won 3-2
2002/03 Drew 0-0
2003/04 Chelsea won 1-0
2004/05 Chelsea 2-0
2005/06 Chelsea won 2-0
2006/07 Tottenham won 2-1

Chelsea have been beaten four times (Man Utd away, Arsenal away, Tottenham at Wembley and Barnsley away) in 40 games in all competitions under Avram Grant in a run that has seen 28 wins and 25 clean sheets.

Chelsea have played 48 games in all competitions winning 31, drawing 12 and losing five. We have scored 82 goals, conceded 30 and have kept 27 clean sheets. We have failed to score on 10 occasions.

Spurs last six games
Feb 24 Chelsea (League Cup Final) W 2-1
Mar 1 Birmingham (a) L 1-4
Mar 6 PSV Eindhoven (UEFA Cup h) L 0-1
Mar 9 West Ham (h) W 4-0
Mar 12 PSV Eindhoven (UEFA Cup a) W 1-0
Mar 16 Man City (a) L 1-2

Tottenham have played 48 games in all competitions this season. They have won 20, lost 15 and drawn 13 scoring 90 goals, conceding 65, have kept 13 clean sheets and have failed to score on five occasions.

On Sunday Manchester City won for the first time at home in the Premier League for three months against Spurs after second-half goals from Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha. Robbie Keane's spectacular strike into the top corner gave Spurs the lead on 32 minutes. Team (4-4-2): Robinson; Hutton, Woodgate, Dawson, Chimbonda; Lennon (Huddlestone h/t), Jenas, Zokora, Malbranque (O'Hara 67); Berbatov, Keane (c) (Bent 67).

Premier League scorers:
Tottenham (54): Keane 13 (3 pens), Berbatov 12 (2 pens), Bent 4, Defoe (now Portsmouth) 4, Jenas 4, Kaboul 3, Malbranque 3, Bale 2, Chimonda 2, Huddlestone 2, Lennon 2, Dawson 1, Gardner (now Everton) 1, Gilberto 1.
Chelsea (49): Lampard 10 (3 pens), Kalou 6, J Cole 5, Drogba 5, Ballack 4 (1 pen), Shevchenko 4 (1 pen), Essien 3, Alex 2, Belletti 2, Pizarro 2, Wright-Phillips 2, Anelka 1, A Cole 1, Malouda 1, Terry 1.

Robbie Keane is Tottenham's leading scorer in all competitions with 21. Frank Lampard heads Chelsea's scoring chart with 17 and is looking to achieve 20 goals for the third successive season following his 19 in 2004/05.

In the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge two months ago, Juliano Belletti opened the scoring with a 35 yard screamer after 18 minutes and Shaun Wright-Phillips smacked in his second in a week, driving in Joe Cole's lay-back. 2-0.

Chelsea are third, three points behind leaders Man Utd and Arsenal (67), Liverpool are fourth on 59 and Everton fifth with 56 points. Tottenham are eleventh with 35 points.

The only other Premier League game tonight is Man Utd v Bolton (kick off 8pm).

There are no suspensions on either side.

Spurs have won the League Championship twice in 1951 and 1961, one fewer than Chelsea. Their last major piece of silverware before this seasons League Cup was the League Cup in 1999.

Salomon Kalou, if selected, will make his 50th start for the club.

The referee is Mike Riley whose most recent Chelsea game was February's goalless draw against Liverpool.

Chelsea's overall record against Tottenham in all competitions is: played 136, won 58, drawn 31, lost 47.

Head-to-head in the league at White Hart Lane: played 59, won 22, drawn 15, lost 22.

LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME
Tottenham 2 Chelsea 1
Premiership, Sunday November 5th 2006, White Hart Lane
Tottenham (4-4-2): Robinson; Chimbonda, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto; Ghaly, Jenas, Zokora, Lennon; Keane (Defoe 85), Berbatov.
Manager Martin Jol.
Scorers Dawson (24), Lennon (51)
Booked Dawson, Ghaly, King.
Chelsea (4-1-2-1-2): Hilario; Ferreira (Boulahrouz h-t, Kalou 67), Carvalho, Terry (c), A Cole; Makelele (Wright-Phillips 62); Essien, Lampard; Ballack; Drogba, Robben.
Manager Jose Mourinho.
Scorer Makelele (14)
Sent off Terry (two yellows) Booked Ferreira, Makelele, A Cole, Ballack
Referee Graham Poll.
Crowd 36,070.
A first league defeat at White Hart Lane since August 1987.