Eric Dier believes Tottenham have learned to be ruthless

Eric Dier believes Tottenham Hotspur have applied the lesson in ruthlessness they learned from Chelsea in last season’s League Cup final. Dier maintains Spurs were the better team in the Wembley game but he concedes Chelsea, who closed out a 2-0 win, had the know-how.

The teams will renew acquaintances in the Premier League at White Hart Lane, and it is remarkable how the status of each has changed.

Tottenham are unbeaten in the league since the opening day of the season, they have come to believe a Champions League finish could be a realistic target and they start the derby as the favourites. Chelsea, by contrast, are enduring a torrid title defence and languish in 15th place. They have, however, won three of their past four fixtures in all competitions.

Learning curve

Dier feels that a big step on the learning curve for what is a young Tottenham team came in that cup final last March.

“I personally learned a lot that day and I think everyone else did,” Dier said. “Chelsea were very impressive that day because I think we were the better side but they just knew how to win.

“You could tell they had a lot of experienced players who have played a lot of games and won a lot of trophies, and they knew how to win, how to grind out a result. But I think we’ve proved that we’ve learned from that this season and we’ve ground out results ourselves.”

Dier highlighted Thursday’s 1-0 win over Qarabag in Baku, which ensured Tottenham’s qualification to the Europa League last 32, as a case in point, although the Chelsea game promises to be even more of a test – not least on a physical level. Guardian Service