Gareth Bale and Jermain Defoe both missed Tottenham Hotspur's 1-0 win over Sunderland on Sunday and both might miss Thursday's big clash against Chelsea as well. With Spurs and the Blues battling for third place, Thursday's match has an added importance and Bale and Defoe will both be crucial for Tottenham considering Aaron Lennon has already been ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Bale is battling a sprained ankle suffered during training last week. He was never really considered for Sunday's match and he has been called "doubtful" for Thursday against Chelsea. Whether that really means he is doubtful to play or he is just an injury doubt is unclear though.

Defoe aggravated a hamstring injury in last week's Europa League match versus Shamrock Rovers. He'd been dealing with the injury for weeks, but it was made worse last week. With Lennon out, Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp may choose to play Rafael van der Vaart on the right, opening up a spot at forward for Defoe to get a start next to Emmanuel Adebayor, but he has to be fit to play for that to be an option.