Chelsea will hate what Gus Poyet just said about Tottenham and Arsenal being ‘proper’

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Former Tottenham and Chelsea man Gus Poyet believes the Chelsea versus Tottenham matchup is not a real London derby.

The Premier League season is slowly gathering momentum, and fixtures are set to come thick and fast in the coming months.

Tottenham Hotspur have since received their festive fixture schedule for December and January, where they are set to play four games, including a Boxing Day clash against Bournemouth.

Before that though, the next five matches for Spurs are tough, with two games against their big six rivals on the horizon, including Manchester United and Chelsea.

Chelsea vs Tottenham and Chelsea vs Arsenal are not London derbies, says Gus Poyet

Spurs do have a decent record against the Red Devils, but the same cannot be said about Chelsea, whom they have failed to beat in their last five outings. Many fans will be hoping to put that record straight when the two sides meet on 24 October.

However, while the match-up is still some way off, Gus Poyet, who played for both Chelsea and Tottenham, has given his take on the derby game.

Speaking on lloydcanfieldfc, Poyet stated that he believes there is only one proper London derby, with the former Tottenham and Chelsea player dismissing the idea that the fixture between the two clubs is the biggest derby in the capital.

He said: “The only derby in London, proper derby, is Arsenal-Tottenham, Tottenham-Arsenal. The rest they are London derbies like can be a, you know like a I do not know Sussex derby or Derbyshire derby whatever you want to join.

“But do not tell me now that Tottenham-Chelsea is the biggest derby in London. No chance and I play them. Okay, both. And I know.

“So now that I created this kind of situation because Chelsea needed a derby because Fulham was not, because West Ham is in the other side of London and because Crystal Palace was not in the top division normally, well that is a different problem. But the derby in London is Tottenham-Arsenal, Arsenal-Tottenham. Forget it.”

Fans’ perspective on London derbies has evolved

Of course, Poyet is right in his assessment of how the derby between Chelsea and Spurs came about; however, the feeling around these games has changed since he was last involved in them.

Plenty of past Tottenham players have even admitted that, during the Pochettino era, Chelsea felt more like rivals than Arsenal did.

While many Tottenham supporters consider Arsenal their bitter rivals, fans also want to have the bragging rights over Chelsea. This makes the match set to come up against the Blues later in October equally important, as winning matters just as much for many fans.

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