With Chelsea vulnerable and exposed, it’s time for Spurs to draw a line in the sand and assert their London dominance

Sunday's showdown at Stamford Bridge could well kill the season in terms of the top six. More importantly, a Tottenham victory would reaffirm the side's new-found London dominance

In the current world, the Spurs team does look in a better place and on better form than Chelsea (Getty)

By the time Sunday comes at Stamford Bridge, it will be a massive 21 days since Tottenham Hotspur’s last Premier League game and 22 since Chelsea’s, a huge length of time that seems out of sync with the competition’s relentless modern news cycle. There’s been a rare chance to breathe, for rhythms and patterns to be broken, for some pressure to be lifted – but the players from both sides are still fully aware of the potential consequences of this match.

It could well kill the season, at least in terms of the top six. If Spurs win, after all, there will be an eight-point gap between themselves and Chelsea. That would surely make the race for the Champions League as much a fait accompli as that for Manchester City’s title.

Mauricio Pochettino was at pains to point out “this is not a final”, but it could well have final consequences, and greatly undercut every big-six game to come.

It could thereby be played like a final, perhaps with all the intensity – if not necessarily the aggression – of the infamous Battle of the Bridge two years ago. Antonio Conte wasn’t involved in that, but also wasn’t going to talk down this.

“This is an important game for us,” the Chelsea manager said. “Our target for this final [stretch] of the season is to take a place in the Champions League and reach the final of the FA Cup. If we win on Sunday, we’ll go very close to Tottenham. Otherwise, it will be difficult to take a place in the Champions League.”

Just as the game could potentially bring the season to a climax, though, it could also come down to the supposedly inherent qualities of these clubs, these teams. Those are also qualities that are, appropriately enough, given the long break, tied to time.

On the one side, Chelsea are looking to overcome the kind of inconsistency that seems to consistently afflict the club. There are many reasons for that, that have been discussed at length this season, and one is the willingness to change managers so readily at Stamford Bridge. That policy has in turn led to a transfer approach designed to be broadly independent of any coach, and that has caused a few issues for the current one.

This is a must-win match for Antonio Conte and his men (Leicester City FC via Getty Imag)

Either way, it doesn’t change Conte’s task for the day, one that at least should come down to his best quality. The Chelsea manager must come up with a tactical plan best suited to a single big game; another moment of clarity amid the general chaos and constant jutting from high to low.

Under Pochettino, Tottenham have almost become the total opposite to Chelsea in that regard. There have merely been occasional moments of chaos amid the clarity of a long upwards journey, where almost everything about the club is in sync.

That has still been a journey without a proper destination beyond the Champions League itself. They haven’t yet reached the tangible signpost of a trophy. Some of that might be down to the fact Spurs just don’t have Chelsea’s money, but then there’s also the complication that they don’t yet have that killer away win against one of the big six either.

This is something else this match brings us back to, something that will just continue to be brought up for Tottenham until it is banished. Other than one victory against an ailing Manuel Pellegrini-facilitated Manchester City in 2015-16, they still don’t have that big away win.

So what better game to claim it, what better ground to claim it at?

Mauricio Pochettino has helped steer Tottenham to a period of stability (Getty)

This is not a time for endless progress from process, then. It is time for a proper line in the sand. That is in turn something that adds an extra element to this match for Spurs. Never mind winning an away game against a top-six side, they haven’t won away at Chelsea since February 1990.

There’s always debate about how much stats like that actually matter to modern players, but it is still one of those elements that will be evoked until it is evaporated. It is similarly difficult not to think that it will be one of those things that weighs on the visitors’ minds if the game starts to go away; if Spurs, say, miss two good chances. The thought might arise that’s just always the way it goes here.

That’s not the way for Pochettino, mind, as he insisted he was barely thinking about such a history.

“No, I think it is not a point to be focused on for us,” he said ahead of the game. “We are focused, and we must be focused on the win and the performance. Performances, to have the possibility to be better than them, and to win the game. History is history and is there, but it is not going to help. That is not what counts.”

He did inadvertently emphasise just how long you have to count back for that win.

“February 1990 – yes, my debut was in 1989. My second season was 1990. I remember, I remember. I was so young, 17, 18, 19 years old. A long time ago.

“Argentina it was not that moment with the internet now you can see everything. In that period, it was so difficult. No internet, not too many TV channels. Maybe sometimes you would hear from the radio, but very distant. I was in a different world, completely, in 1990.”

In the current world, the Spurs team does look in a better place and on better form than Chelsea, but that is itself complicated by the likely absence of Harry Kane.

That would remove some of the fear factor for Conte, and means he could play with a more proactive approach, in a game that he pretty much has to win.

A lot of thought will go into that. It has been a game with a long build-up and one that could have an instant deep effect.