A lot was made of Spurs' apparent transformation under Antonio Conte in the lead up to Chelsea's clash with the North London club in the Premier League last month.
Conte's men had just overhauled a 2-1 deficit in injury time at The King Power Stadium to reignite their Champions League hopes.
But then Spurs arrived at Stamford Bridge and got comfortably beaten by Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea for the fourth time this season. The third time in January after the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
Nothing much had changed, and for the drama of the win at Leicester, the analysis seemed to forget Conte's side were heading for a defeat before Brendan Rodgers' defence imploded.
As Chelsea was securing their place in the FIFA Club World Cup final on Wednesday, Spurs were imploding again, this time to Southampton.
The brilliant Saints win was inspired by a Chelsea youngster in Armando Broja, netting his sixth Premier League goal this season in ruthless fashion before celebrating in front of an irritated Spurs crowd.
The Albanian forward has been compared to a figure that butted heads with Conte at Stamford Bridge in Diego Costa, and the 20-year-old continued to draw comparisons by netting against a bitter rival.
Costa was a brilliant player in Conte's first season at Stamford Bridge, netting 20 goals on course for the club's last Premier League title in the 2016/17 season.
But the following summer, it was infamously Conte's text to the forward informing him he was no longer required, which spelt the end for the Spaniard who returned to Atletico Madrid four months later.
Spurs managed to throw away a 2-1 lead in the final 15 minutes of the game, which only adds an extra Premier League boost for Chelsea, who do not play in the league again till the 19th at Selhurst Park.
Despite beating the North London club before the winter break, dark clouds circled regarding Chelsea being dragged into another battle for Champions League qualification.
Chelsea faces a run of league fixtures against Crystal Palace, Burnley, Newcastle, Norwich, and Brentford, giving great opportunities to secure a place in the top four before May.
Spurs now sit 11 points behind Chelsea with three games in hand, facing Wolves and Manchester City in their next two.
But Spurs' defeat and Manchester United's draw with Burnley on Tuesday night has given Tuchel a little more breathing room when Chelsea return to domestic action.
Make sure you have subscribed to CareFreeChelsea on YouTube! The Fan Brands team along with plenty of your football.london favourites will be producing daily Chelsea content for you to enjoy including match reactions, podcasts, football fun and interviews. You can follow Daniel Childs from the CareFreeChelsea team to keep up to date with his work. If you enjoyed reading this then give my other articles a read below.
