No real shock here, Mark Lawrenson has tipped Chelsea to win today.
He told the BBC website:
‘Chelsea’s season is getting better and better. The relationship between the manager and owner appears to be deteriorating as we speak and we’ll see if it’s terminal at the end of the season – but on the pitch, they keep rolling along. They have been asked quite a few questions in the last few weeks and they have come up with the answers.’
Adding on Spurs ‘Up until the last month, Tottenham generally surrendered as soon as they got off the bus on away trips but that’s changed completely and I think Dimitar Berbatov has been outstanding for them. Spurs have had good away wins over London rivals West Ham and Fulham – but this is Chelsea and everything that they bring. Tottenham’s problem will be trying to wrest control of midfield and I don’t think they’ll be able to do that.’
Lawro predicts: 2-1
Martin Jol has confirmed that both Paul Robinson (thigh) and Robbie Keane (ankle) are out of today’s FA Cup quarter-final at Stamford Bridge as are Ledley King (foot), Jermaine Jenas (groin) and Danny Murphy (Achilles)
Jol said: ‘Robbo can’t play because he has a little tear in his thigh, although we’re hopeful he’ll be back next week. It means Radek (Cerny) will play and Robert Burch will be on the bench because Ben Alnwick is also injured at the moment. Robbie is also out. He took a kick to his ankle in the first half on Thursday, it’s sprained and we’ll have to wait and see how long he’s out for. We have a few knocks and bruises but Mido is back.’
Tottenham (from): Cerny, Burch, Chimbonda, Lee, Gardner, Dawson, Rocha, Stalteri, Murphy, Ghaly, Malbranque, Tainio, Taarabt, Huddlestone, Zokora, Lennon, Berbatov, Mido, Defoe.
Chelsea (from): Cech, Cudicini, Ferreira, Geremi, Diarra, Carvalho, Essien, Bridge, A Cole, Lampard, Makelele, Ballack, Drogba, Shevchenko, Kalou, Wright-Phillips, Boulahrouz, Morais.
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