Chelsea Rivalries: Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea wins: 68; Tottenham wins: 51; Draws: 40

This is the big one for Chelsea fans. This is the one Chelsea fans want to win above all else.

For Tottenham Hotspur however, it had always been secondary to their rivalry with Arsenal. But it's growing, largely because it's a fixture Chelsea have chiefly dominated in recent years and brought a lot of heartbreak to Tottenham fans.

Though their had always been traditional London rivalry between the two, it never really kicked-off in any major way until the 1967 FA Cup Final.
The first all-London affair, it was dubbed 'The Cockney Cup Final'. It was Chelsea's first final in 52 years and it was to be the culmination for 'Docherty's Diamond's'. Tottenham had other ideas and sporting two former Chelsea players Jimmy Greaves and Terry Venables in their line-up, they would win 2-1 to lift the Cup.

Forward on a few years to 1975 and both sides had hit harder times. With three games to go, the two sides met in what was a major relegation battle. Tottenham, who had been in the relegation zone at the start of play ran out as 2-0 winners. This game didn't actually relegate Chelsea but there isn't a single Tottenham fan alive that won't tell you otherwise.

Since the 1990's however, the rivalry has been a largely one sided affair. At time of writing, Tottenham haven't won at Stamford Bridge for 27 years while Chelsea have inflicted a lot of misery on the Spurs faithful, including a memorable 1-6 win at White Hart Lane in 1997.
What must really gnaw at the Tottenham fans though is that even when they think they are out, Chelsea always come back at them.

In 2002, Tottenham beat Chelsea 5-1 in the League Cup, their first win in 12 years. A few weeks later however, Chelsea won 4-0 against Tottenham twice in three days.
2006, Tottenham win their first league game against Chelsea for 16 years (and first at White Hart Lane since 1987) but later in the year come back to knock them out of the FA Cup.

Chelsea don't even need to be playing Tottenham to cause pain for them. In 2012, Tottenham finished above Chelsea in the League for the first time since 1996 and were all set for Champions League football. All until Didier Drogba and that night in Munich.

Tottenham may point to their 2008 League Cup triumph at Wembley but Chelsea can point to the 2015 final, along with two big semi-final wins at Wembley in 2012 (5-1) and 2017 (4-2).

What possibly encapsulates the rivalry most in recent years though is the 2015-16 season. Chelsea were having their worst season in two decades while Tottenham were challenging for the title. On 2nd May 2016, Tottenham arrived at Stamford Bridge for a vital clash. At half-time, Tottenham were leading 0-2 but Chelsea came back in a heated second half with goals from Gary Cahill and Eden Hazard to give the League title to Leicester City and once more break the Spurs hearts.

It's a reminder that no matter what, Chelsea always seem to have the last laugh.