Chelsea travel across London to face Tottenham on Sunday and it’s set to be a real battle – and there have been plenty of them between the two over the years.
They are two sides that simply do not like each other in what has become one of the most hotly contested rivalries in recent years.
Every time the Premier League pair meet, there seems to be controversy whether that be managers clashing on the touchline or players having at it on the pitch.
No one can forget the infamous Battle of the Bridge that saw Leicester win the title in 2016.
Meanwhile footage of Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel’s less-than polite handshake will live long in the memory.
There have even been incidents involving the pitch invaders as the tensions between the two spill over.
Not up to date on what’s happened before in this tenacious tie?
Never fear, talkSPORT.com has rounded up all the scrapes, scraps and scandal.
Battle of the Bridge
Where else to start but arguably the most brutal match in Premier League history, which saw 12 players booked – three for Chelsea and nine for Tottenham.
And, after all was said and done, referee Mark Clattenburg admitted he should have shown three red cards.
The whole 90 minutes was pretty much both sides kicking each other and ended with Leicester being crowned Premier League champions in the remarkable 2015/16 campaign.
Spurs raced into a two-goal lead through Harry Kane and Son with a couple of kicks, a push or two, and a glaring set of eyes.
Tempers quickly went through the roof when Danny Rose slid in hard on Willian again but this time the Brazilian had lost his patience.
The two reared heads as Mauricio Pochettino raced onto the pitch to intervene, something he stated later that he would regret.
Mousa Dembele escaped a red card for gouging Diego Costa’s eye in the resulting melee, though he would earn himself a six-match ban afterward.
From that point on, it was challenge after challenge that even Chelsea legend Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris would wince at.
But it seemed to work in the Blues favour, as they came back to draw 2-2 with goals from Gary Cahill and Eden Hazard.
Conte vs Tuchel
Incredibly, this iconic flashpoint in Premier League history happened just six months ago when Conte and Tuchel locked horns at Stamford Bridge after yet another controversial draw.
Two managers who are no shrinking violets on the touchline, the duo had been snapping at one another all game when an equaliser from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg sparked fury in the Chelsea bench for what was perceived as an over-celebration from Conte.
But it all exploded at full-time when Tuchel grabbed, and kept hold of, Conte’s hand during the customary handshake.
It led to a squaring up, some words exchanged and a huge fracas with coaches and players racing in to get involved before referee Anthony Taylor sent them both off.
“I thought when we shake hands you looked in each other’s eyes, he had a different opinion,” Tuchel told Sky Sports in the aftermath.
“It’s emotional, football. We don’t need to heat it up. You have emotional coaches on the touchline and that’s it.”
That was that for Tuchel as just days later, he was sacked as Chelsea coach and has even been linked with replacing Conte at Spurs at the end of the season.
Dele Alli Rodeo
On 22 December 2019, neither Chelsea or Tottenham were in a festive spirit as tensions boiled over yet again with fury simmering throughout the clash before Dele Alli and Matteo Kovacic went at it.
Kurt Zouma, Harry Kane, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Moussa Sissoko had all risked the wrath of the referee before Paulo Gazzaniga karate-kicked Marcos Alonso in the box.
Somehow, VAR was needed to giv the resulting penalty, which Willian dispatched.
Shortly before, Alli ran into Kante with Kovacic behind him, leading to the Englishman bizarrely mounting the Chelsea star’ back momentarily.
As the two hit the deck, Kovacic was incensed as Alli pulled his shirt to help himself off the ground and the red mist quickly descended as the pair pushed one another and looked on the brink of a dust-up before Kane intervened.
Within seconds, all their team-mates jumped in to diffuse the situation as both players ranted at one another.
Lampard fan attack
Sometimes, the tensions spill over from the stands and one shocking occasion saw a Tottenham fan storm the pitch and attempt to punch Lampard.
Chelsea had just beat Spurs in an FA Cup quarter-final replay in 2007 after goals from Andriy Shevchenko and Shaun Wright-Phillips and Lampard was celebrating before ugly scenes unfolded.
The Englishman managed to avoid a flying punch from the incensed fan before the scene erupted further when players and coaches piled in, including John Terry, Didier Drogba and Rui Faria.
Stewards, and even Jose Mourinho, managed to calm things down while Lampard had to be held back.
Tottenham banned the fan for life while Lampard decided against pressing charges in what could have been a shocking moment in football.
Torres and Vertonghen scrap
It was about time Mike Dean was mentioned and he had his own role to play when he sent off Fernando Torres in September, 2013 after challenging Jan Vertonghen.
Earlier in the match, the Spaniard appeared to get away with one when he stood on the back of the Tottenham defender’s ankle, causing him to slip in pain.
He got up to confront Torres, who responded by pushing his hand in his face, scratching him and even appearing to accidentally stick a finger up his nose.
Dean could have easily sent the Chelsea striker off then but decided a yellow would suffice, only to bizarrely reverse that decision later on in the match when the two players contended for a header.
While both ended up on the deck, it was largely a fair challenge to make for a 50/50 ball but the Wirral man with the whistle whacked out the red card.
The two had been needling at each other all game before Dean’s intervention while Mourinho had a classic reaction to Vertonghen’s perceived play-acting.
“I don’t think the referee is guilty,” the Portuguese coach said after the match.
“He made the wrong decision, but he trusts the player and he sees a player who looks like he’ll be going to hospital with broken bones pretending it was a violent action. I think the normal tendency is to follow him and make that decision.”
Who knows what will happen in Sunday’s encounter but it’s certainly set to be spicy.
https://talksport.com/football/1341571/battle-of-the-bridge-thomas-tuchel-antonio-conte-frank-lampard-tottenham-chelsea/
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