THERE is only one fixture for PREMIER LEAGUE WEEKLY to focus on this week.

It’s the tea-time clash between Chelsea and Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. Will Chelsea keep on their march at the top? Or will Spurs finally taste victory after 29 wasted trips across town on the District Line?

Can Spurs get the pick-me-up they need at their bogey ground?

LET’s start with a simple question. Who scored the winner when Tottenham were last victorious at Stamford Bridge in February 1990? Easy! Gary Lineker.

It’s so easy to remember because it gets trotted out with each passing season in the build up to Chelsea versus Tottenham. Just think Spurs could not even end their 26-year jinx at the Bridge back in May when they were going for the title and the home side had nothing to play for. And that was despite holding a 2-0 lead at half time! Chelsea’s comeback that night and the jubilant reaction of their supporters as the title headed to Leicester left a deep wound on everyone of a Spurs persuasion and they will want cold-blooded revenge tomorrow.

Gary Lineker during his time at Spurs (Bob Martin/Allsport/Getty Images)

But if the stakes were in Tottenham’s favour six months ago, they are certainly not this time. Chelsea are top of the league and have won six in a row without conceding a goal. Antonio Conte’s team are flying and guys like Diego Costa and Eden Hazard are rejuvenated. From the misery of last season and how things fell apart under Jose Mourinho, there is a seriousness about the West Londoners once again. This is more like the Chelsea we have come to expect in the last decade and more.

Here is another statistic to make Spurs fans grimace. Since that Lineker goal, Chelsea are 17-3 up in major trophies won. They have become the new power of London, as Spurs have become the club associated with former glories. Mauricio Pochettino is the latest man tasked with trying to change that and he has the only unbeaten side in the Premier League so far, but too many draws leaves them outside the top four.

Now they have to bounce back from the crushing disappointment of going out of the Champions League in the groups. Their return to the competition has been a flop with the move to Wembley inspiring only a series of limp displays against Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen. If this really is a different and harder Spurs, capable of challenging at the top, a statement win at Chelsea would go a long way towards proving that.

Player of the Day: Harry Kane

WHEN Tottenham need a talisman or a moment of magic, they turn to Harry Kane. And more often than not, Kane delivers. That has certainly been the case ever since he forced his way into the team in November 2014. Since then, he has found the net 51 times in the Premier League but more importantly he has scored in nearly all of Spurs’ biggest games – five goals against Arsenal and West Ham, three against Chelsea.

Kane has become the unofficial leader of this new pack of young players in their early twenties around whom Spurs fans place so much hope. They have seen other stars in recent times like Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Michael Carrick leave White Hart Lane to claim the biggest prizes and they don’t want the same to happen with Kane, especially given the fact that he’s ‘one of their own’. He is currently in negotiations for a new contract but while Daniel Levy may baulk at the figures that Kane’s representatives put forward, keeping the star striker is so important.

Harry is not a hired gun – he has come through the ranks, he’s been nurtured, he loves playing for Spurs. Keeping him in N17 is so important for the message it sends about the club’s ambition as White Hart Lane is turned into a 61,000-seater stadium. Kane is arguably the best prospect to come through at Tottenham since Glenn Hoddle. And with him on the pitch and at the club, Tottenham can live up to their motto and dare to do.

Is Europe becoming a burden for English clubs?

IN the year of Brexit, attitudes towards Europe are being openly questioned in most areas of life, so why not in the Premier League? But the question arises from seeing Chelsea and Liverpool sitting in the top two places in the league after 12 games. Both are having a rare season out of European competition and their league form is reaping the benefits. Leicester did the same last year on their unlikely march to the Premier League title. Liverpool and Chelsea have been able to rest, recuperate and train well while the others have been on continental duty, so it’s no surprise that their performances have had the most energy and vigour.

Look at the evidence. Arsenal and Manchester City have managed to do OK. They have qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League but won’t finish first in their groups and they are doing reasonably in the league, but have each dropped a couple a few silly points, probably in response to European exertions. Arsenal have become the experts at just getting by – doing enough to play in Europe after Christmas, but never with a chance of lifting the big prize and always at a cost to their league hopes.

Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal (R) and Thiago Silva of PSG (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Tottenham are already out of the Champions League after some very poor performances, and Leicester’s awful league form has been in sharp contrast to their serene progress to the last-16 after Christmas as group winners. Even in the Europa League, Manchester United and Southampton have got into a position where they should just about qualify for the knockout stages, but have dropped bad points in the league due to the dreaded Thursday-Sunday schedule.

Nowadays the Premier League generates more money than any other league through television rights. Clubs like West Brom and Sunderland, who never get near to playing in Europe, have more financial power than famous European names like Ajax, Benfica, Porto, Marseille. Their association with the likes of Manchester United by virtue of being in the same country has been more beneficial than decades of success in another land for these former powers. There is too much money from European competition for the English to turn their backs, but it is certainly proving a distraction. And where is the fun in beating Inter Milan if you lose to Hull three days later?