Tottenham, Chelsea primed for derby battle

Arsenal take on Swansea in Premier League today.

LONDON: Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas insists he has nothing to prove when he comes up against his mentor Jose Mourinho for the first time today.

Portuguese coach Villas-Boas learnt his trade under Mourinho as a member of his compatriot's coaching staff at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan.

The pair fell out when Villas-Boas decided to go alone as a manager, but the Spurs chief is adamant he has no thoughts of vengeance ahead of Chelsea boss Mourinho's visit to White Hart Lane this weekend.

Chelsea and Tottenham have played 126 matches in the EPL with the Blues winning 53 while Spurs were triumphant in 42. PHOTO: AGENCIES

Tottenham will kick off in second place in the Premier League table with 12 points from five games — two more than Chelsea, who have also suffered defeat at home to Basle in the Champions League.

That result, coupled with a domestic defeat at Everton, has increased the pressure on Mourinho, who won the Premier League in his first two seasons in his first spell at Chelsea.

But Villas-Boas, who had a short-lived spell as manager at Stamford Bridge that ended with the sack in March 2012, believes both he and his old boss have proved their worth.

"Nobody has anything to prove," said Villas-Boas. "Jose's career speaks for itself. I am very proud of what I have done so far and what I have achieved. This Chelsea team is still being built around Jose's ideas. The team has changed dramatically since he has left.

"They are still building together as a team. With Jose's abilities, he will be able to fine-tune the team to another winning team because he's done that throughout his career."

Ozil aims to shoot down Swansea

Mesut Ozil has pledged to become a more prolific goal-scorer as Arsenal attempt to secure their eighth successive Premier League away victory when they travel to Swansea today.

Arsene Wenger's side are currently top of the table with 12 points from five games. It has been an excellent start to the campaign by a squad that was widely written off following an opening loss to Aston Villa.

Arsenal's fortunes have improved dramatically since the arrival of Germany midfielder Ozil on transfer deadline day.

Ozil has already shown off his vast creative talents by setting up several goals for his new colleagues, but the former Real Madrid playmaker is keen to get on the score-sheet more often as well.

"I don't want to praise myself too much but I think my statistics are good,” he said. “I would like to score more goals.”

Arsenal will need Ozil to be at his best this weekend, as they will be without a number of injured stars including Santi Cazorla, Theo Walcott, Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2013.

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