London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea will renew hostilities at White Hart Lane this Thursday as they meet in the late New Year's Day kickoff.

The clash comes less than a month after they met at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea made light work of Diego Costa's absence to cruise to a 3-0 victory.

Costa is fit and firing for this one, however, and will look to start 2015 in the same way he finished 2014, having netted in Chelsea's last two games.

His goal was only enough to earn Chelsea a point against Southampton at St Mary's on Sunday, but Manchester City's shock collapse against Burnley ensured that Jose Mourinho's side escaped with their three-point lead at the top of the table intact.

The Portuguese boss was still not happy, however, and will have an eye keenly trained on referee Phil Dowd, having complained of a "campaign" against his side following a fourth booking for diving this season.

It doesn't seem to have had an impact on performances so far, though, with Chelsea boasting the joint-best attack and the stingiest defence in the division.

Mourinho has no new injury concerns but could opt to make a couple of changes to keep things fresh, with Cesar Azpilicueta and Oscar among those to be pushing for a recall.

A match against the league leaders is certainly not the easiest way to start the New Year, but Spurs will be full of confidence going into the clash having started to find a bit of form under Mauricio Pochettino.

The North Londoners ended 2014 with a five-match unbeaten streak in all competitions, although they did miss the chance to temporarily move into the top four when they played out a goalless draw with Manchester United on Sunday.

They remain just two points off the Champions League places, however, and with Southampton and Arsenal facing each other in an earlier kickoff, victory over Chelsea would see them put more pressure on the teams above them.

White Hart Lane is beginning to become a challenging place to visit too, with Spurs now unbeaten at home in their last six games in all competitions, conceding just two goals in that time.

Nabil Bentaleb missed the draw with United due to illness and will be assessed nearer to kickoff, but is expected to return in place of Benjamin Stambouli.

Erik Lamela and Kyle Walker could also return to the starting lineup, while Harry Kane is likely to lead the line once again having enjoyed a productive December.

Spurs:

Form in Premier League: LDWWWD
Form in all competitions: LWWWWD

Possible starting lineup: Lloris; Walker, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies; Mason, Bentaleb, Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli; Kane

Chelsea:

Form in Premier League: WLWWWD
Form in all competitions: WWWWWD

Possible starting lineup: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Fabregas, Matic, Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Costa

Sports Mole says: 1-2