TEAM NEWS
Tottenham pair Kyle Naughton and Jake Livermore could return for the Saturday lunchtime kick-off against Chelsea.
Naughton (ankle) has been out for a month, while Livermore's groin injury has sidelined him for six weeks.
Chelsea captain John Terry begins his four-match ban for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.
Daniel Sturridge has overcome a hamstring injury but Frank Lampard (calf) and Ryan Bertrand (virus) are doubts, having missed England duty.
MATCH PREVIEW
Smiling, grimacing, crouching and hopping like a cat on a hot tin roof - we'll get the full show from Andre Villas-Boas this weekend, with cameras trained on the Spurs manager's every move.
His first game against Chelsea since they gave him the sack will have been the first one he looked down the fixture list for in the summer, and the one he'll want to win more than any other with Spurs so far.
Despite not winning any of the last five meetings of the clubs, Spurs may be seen as slight favourites being the home side - they are the Premier League's most in-form team after four wins in a row.
Across all competitions, Chelsea can trump that with five wins on the spin. Their confident displays this season have made them look at times like the juggernaut they once were under Jose Mourinho - only possibly with a bit of extra showy trim.
Their goals are coming from all over, with 13 players already on the scoresheet this season. Importantly, as a number nine should, Fernando Torres leads the way with six goals to his name.
A year ago on Friday, the Spaniard scored two against Genk in the Champions League, and on a run of four in four games looked to have finally cracked how to get goals for Chelsea. He didn't score again until mid-March - two weeks after Villas-Boas had got the push.
Of course, this is a fixture about much more than the personalities who just happen to be involved this time. It's one of London's fiercest rivalries, as borne out by an Arsenal-supporting friend of mine a few years ago. In the capital to commentate on Fulham v Chelsea, I left him (a non-Londoner) to watch his team's lunchtime kick-off with Spurs in a pub full of Chelsea fans.
My concern over whether he could possibly show his true emotions were unfounded, as I was later greeted by a grinning Gooner and the words: "Blimey, they hate Tottenham more than we do!"
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
Chelsea have failed to win in their last six Premier League visits to White Hart Lane since a 2-0 victory in August 2005 with goals from Asier Del Horno and Damien Duff.
Victory for Tottenham would be their 50th over Chelsea in all competitions. Chelsea have 61 wins.
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham are unbeaten in nine matches in all competitions (W5, D4) since the opening-day defeat at Saudi Sportswashing Machine. They could register five successive league victories for the first time in 2012.
Only in 2009-10 have Spurs had more points (15) after seven games of a Premier League campaign than they have this season.
The north London side have lost just two of their last 22 league matches at White Hart Lane (W15, D5, L2).
They are unbeaten in their last 20 Premier League home matches against fellow London opposition since a 3-1 defeat by Arsenal in September 2007.
Andre Villas-Boas celebrated his 35th birthday three days before this game. He was in charge of Chelsea for 256 days, winning 20 of his 40 league and cup matches with the club.
According to Opta, Gareth Bale has had a league-high 12 shots on target this season.
Chelsea
Chelsea's tally of 19 points out of a possible 21 represents their best start to a season since 2005-06, when they registered 10 wins and a draw in their opening 11 matches.
Defeat by Tottenham would leave them with an identical record to the same stage last season when managed by Andre Villas-Boas (W6, D1, L1).
Chelsea are the only team in the Premier League yet to concede a goal in the second half.
They have the best defensive record in the division, conceding only four goals so far and keeping four clean sheets.
Fernando Torres has now scored 11 league goals in 53 games for Chelsea - it took him just 19 games to reach that mark for Liverpool.
If fit, Frank Lampard could make his 500th Premier League start, while Ramires is one shy of 100 appearances for Chelsea.