Duel of hitmen sets up enticing London derby

COMBINING predatory instincts with a street fighter’s approach to duelling with defenders, Diego Costa has emerged as the unapologetically snarling face of José Mourinho’s successful Chelsea overhaul.

Prised away from Atletico Madrid for $49-million by Mourinho, who recognised a kindred spirit in the competitive Brazil-born Spain striker, Costa has been everything the Chelsea manager could have dreamt of in an explosive debut season in English football.

I will fight for every ball, every goal and will be banned

If the bruising Didier Drogba was the blunt instrument Mourinho favoured to bludgeon opponents into submission in his first spell as Chelsea boss, in Costa, likely to be the key figure in today’s League Cup final against Tottenham at Wembley, he has found an even more effective weapon.

Costa has fired the Blues to the top of the Premier League with 17 goals in just 20 appearances, while also earning criticism after being handed a three-match ban for his cynical stamp on Liverpool’s Emre Can in the League Cup semifinals.

Like Mourinho, the 26-yearold has demonstrated a refusal to play by the accepted rules.

On his first day at the club’s Cobham headquarters, he said: “I’m very happy to be playing for Chelsea, but there will be times when I frustrate and annoy you.

“I will fight for every ball, every goal and I will get banned during the season.”

So far, Costa has been true to that battle cry and today he has the opportunity to deliver the silverware as well. IN the increasingly cosmopolitan English Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur’s home-grown fan favourite Harry Kane represents something of a British throwback.

Born in Walthamstow, north London, 8km from Tottenham’s White Hart Lane stadium, and raised in a Spurssupporting family, Kane joined the club’s academy aged 11 and has been at Spurs ever since.

Now 21, he is the revelation of the current English season and will spearhead Spurs’ attack against Chelsea — the biggest game to date in the career of a player hailed by the fans as “one of our own”.

“What appeals about Kane is the fact that he looks like every one of us would do if we were good enough to get the chance to play for our club: loving every minute of every game,” says Martin Cloake, co-chair of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust.

Kane has had to wait for his moment, having spent time on loan at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City before finally exploding across the national consciousness this season. With 24 goals in 38 games, he is the most prolific striker in the league and has already enjoyed more fairytale moments than many players experience in their entire careers.

In his last appearance against Chelsea, on January 1, he scored twice and had a hand in two other goals as Spurs recorded a 5-3 home win that gives Mauricio Pochettino’s team a slight psychological edge ahead of today’s game.

Tall, physically strong and technically assured, Kane lacks searing pace but is a sure-footed finisher. — AFP