Tottenham Hotspur’s Nigerian-born midfielder, Bamidele Alli has come out with a startling declaration that the real fellow-London-based ‘enemy’ of his club is Chelsea, not Arsenal, as is most commonly thought among English Premier League followers, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although Spurs and Arsenal are known to hold a long-standing historic rivalry as North London neighbours, Alli insists his side would rather lose to The Gunners than suffer same fate against Chelsea,. As he says The Blues are the side Tottenham detest the most in all of England.
While positing that Spurs’ rivalry with Chelsea is bigger than the one with Arsenal, Alli stressed that any match his side have with The Blues matters more to him and his teammates than when they play in a north London derby with The Gunners, because of what he says Frank Lampard’s side have done to his team in recent years.
Although he admits Spurs’ fans might think differently, considering how they have seen the neighboring Arsenal as a closer and more familiar threat than the ‘relatively distant’ Chelsea, Alli stressed that he and his pals from White Hart Lane would mentally, psychologically, impulsively and subconsciously give more effort against The Blues than they would versus The Gunners.
Alli told Copa90: “I think if you ask the fans they will give you a different answer, but as players – the way things have been going with the league and the games – the rivalry with Chelsea is bigger than the one with Arsenal, because of what they have done to us in recent years. For fans it’s different, because the north London derby is massive, but as players I think it’s Chelsea.”
