Spurs followed up last week’s fantastic away win at Aston Villa with an even more impressive victory against title-chasing Chelsea. In fact, Spurs looked more like the team trying to take advantage of Man Utd’s slip-up at Fulham.

Chelsea’s key players in the middle of the field, Lampard and Essien, were snuffed out, particularly by the tough-tackling Palacios - to the extent that Essien was taken off towards the end.

Up front, Nicolas Anelka kept dropping deeper and deeper in a vain attempt to see some of the ball, while a number of the other Chelsea players - most notably Ballack - seemed unable to summon up the requisite enthusiasm for a London derby that also presented an opportunity to rejoin the race for first place.

By contrast, a hardworking and inventive Spurs side proved worthy winners, as they had at Villa Park. Gomes was outstanding in goal, Keane ran tirelessly and Modric, as well as scoring the winner, was also the best player on the pitch. While Spurs remain the only team not to have fielded an unchanged side in the Premier League this season, the only difference from last week was that Corluka was included ahead of Zokora from the start.

It's clear that Harry Redknapp now has more than the nucleus of a settled side in mind. The back-four pick themselves, with the possible exception of Assou-Ekotto. While the Cameroonian performed competently enough on Saturday, he may well be the player under threat once the impeccable Alan Hutton returns to full fitness. The situation is the same in the middle, with Jenas being the only one of the first-choice four who still needs to convince week-in, week-out - although, in fairness, he is beginning to find some form.

The real question is up-front. Unless the manager intends to play Keane and Defoe together, he is left with the not altogether happy choice of selecting either Bent or Pavlyuchenko to fill the role of central striker. The Russian seems to have become the forgotten man at White Hart Lane, while Bent remains an intensely frustrating figure. Like Jenas, he has been better in recent games and certainly showed commitment against Chelsea. The facts remain, however, that he possesses a poor first touch, is not good at holding up the ball and more often than not seems to choke when a clear scoring chance presents itself.

At least Bent is getting a game, which is more than can be said for the equally costly David Bentley. Harry Redknapp seemed to be indicating his feelings about Bentley in comments he made ostensibly about Aaron Lennon, who has just agreed a new deal with Spurs. Looking at signings made before he arrived at the club, Redknapp speculated,

"They couldn't have fancied Lennon that much to have signed Bentley. Why would you sign two wide right players? Strange, isn't it?"

The manager went on to say that: "You have to keep your best players to build a team. If you start selling your Aaron Lennons then you are back where you were at the start of this season. We are in a situation where we are not looking to sell any of our best players this year in the summer."

While the best players are seemingly off limits, the worst - and there have been few worse than Bentley this season - are presumably available at the right price.

One player who will certainly not be up for sale is the surprise inclusion in the next England squad. While teammate Aaron Lennon perhaps has a better chance of appearing in the upcoming games against Slovakia and Ukraine, this is still a well-deserved accolade for Spurs stalwart, Ledley King.