"Guys, I don't need to stress too much about the importance of today's game for us, right?" Mourinho said in the away dressing room, with a serious expression, "If I find out that someone dares to not give their best in the game, then I can advise him to recall Crespo and Veron last summer!"

Mourinho's remarks are not alarmist. The www.biquge.info of the pen "Fun" is to know that the Portuguese did have plans to reuse Crespo and Veron when he first joined Chelsea. It's a pity that these two Argentines had a short circuit in their own brains and dared to put a big star in front of Mourinho, only to be directly put into the cold by the madmen who didn't eat this set at all, and were loaned out to the Milan duo before the summer transfer window closed.

So, while Mourinho repeatedly stressed the importance of the game and the serious consequences of his inaction, no player in the Chelsea squad dared to take the Portuguese's words as a deaf ear – they did not want to follow in the footsteps of Veron and Crespo and be ousted from the thriving Stamford Bridge.

What's more, for this game, from the Chelsea players to the manager Mourinho, they are extremely serious. A Chelsea win would see the Blues leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur and lead the Premier League table by two points, while a Chelsea defeat would leave them four points behind the leaders.

With Tottenham's consistency and ability to pick up points in the first half of the league, Mourinho is not sure that he will be able to overtake a four-point advantage after losing this game. So, for this battle for the top spot, the Portuguese madman can be said to be inevitable!

Now here is an introduction to the starting lineups of both teams. As for Chelsea, who are playing away from home, due to a Carabao Cup semi-final against Manchester United just two days ago, Mourinho made some changes to the starting line-up today - goalkeeper Akinfeev, the back four from left to right, Galla, Terry, Carvalho and Ferreira, the midfield trio of Makelele, Smerking and Frank Lampard, the Swedish god Tajbrahimovic in the front, Joe Cole and Ireland winger Duff on the left and right wings!

Clearly, after more than half a season in charge of Chelsea, Mourinho has gradually selected a group of players he trusts and identified them as the main players in the Blues' dominance of the Premier League and European football as a whole!

In terms of employment philosophy, Mourinho and Capello and Ancelotti and other managers can be said to be quite similar, that is, once a set of main lineups and rotation lists are determined, then they will basically not easily make any changes to this. Otherwise, no matter how bad Bridges and Glen Johnson are, they won't be so bad that they won't even get a handful of starts for Chelsea, and they will only get some playing time in the FA Cup and League Cup.

Incidentally, Mourinho has arguably made quite a sacrifice to ensure that the team is in the best shape to face Tottenham Hotspur in this battle for the top spot. For example, in the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals that just ended, Chelsea, who had long been determined to retain their strength, would play against Manchester United with a full bench lineup!

If it weren't for Manchester United's desperate struggle for a top-four place in the league and not putting too much energy into the Carabao Cup, I am afraid that Chelsea would have been beaten to the ground by the Red Devils, and lost hope of qualifying for the final after the first leg, instead of shaking hands with Manchester United!

With Chelsea's squad out of the way, let's take a look at Tottenham. After a week's rest, the Tottenham players have adjusted to their best fitness and competitive condition, just waiting for the moment when this battle for the top spot comes!

There is no doubt that the starting goalkeeper position naturally belongs to Petr Cech. The Czech international has been in excellent form since joining Tottenham and has greatly improved Tottenham's already fragile defence, so it was natural that George could not have put the ill-fated Petr Cech on the bench on this crucial occasion.

At the back, Patrice Patrice Evra on the left, Stephen Carr on the right, and Nemanja Vidic partnered with Ridley King, who wore the captain's armband, in central defence – Ridley King's leadership qualities have gradually developed since he was appointed captain of the team by George, and now he has a bit of a general's style in his gestures, and his ability is far from being comparable to that of Ashramon in the past. And Evra and Vidic are also growing rapidly, and they have faintly touched the threshold of world-class stars!

In midfield, Mascherano played as a lone midfielder. In front of him are the midfield duo of Xavi Alonso and Basturk. Edgar Davies was not selected in the starting line-up because the aging Dutch Boars struggled to maintain enough fitness and defensive intensity to support the entire game against Chelsea's Muscle Forest. With this in mind, George ended up opting for Basturk, who was inferior defensively, but was younger and more technically superior.

As for the forward line, George sent Robben, Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo to form Tottenham's attacking trident for this game. Of course, whether this trident can tear apart Chelsea's backline as George envisions will take time and actual combat to prove!

As the players from both sides walked out of the tunnel, the Tottenham fans in the stands burst into cheers, cheering on their teams with deafening applause and cheers. In addition, Tottenham fans are also invisibly putting mental pressure on the Chelsea players playing away from home, increasing the chances of some of them underperforming psychologically.

In the eyes of Tottenham fans, there is nothing wrong or wrong with them doing so. After all, this is White Hart Lane, the home of Tottenham Hotspur!

At this time, noticing that the players on both sides had taken their seats in their respective halves, and glancing at the time displayed on the watch, Howard Webb, who was the referee of the game, finally blew the whistle in his mouth, announcing that the much-anticipated battle for the top spot of the Premier League officially began at this moment!

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