Tottenham Hotspur Vs. Chelsea: Spurs Take To Wembley For FA Cup Semifinal Hoping To Earn A Return Trip

Who wants to play? Anyone? Anyone?

It doesn't feel like anyone on either Tottenham Hotspur or Chelsea want to play in Sunday's FA Cup semifinal. Well, wants to play or can play, either one. With a rash of players hurt and the Blues also dealing with a Wednesday Champions League match against Barcelona, nobody is quite sure who is going to play at Wembley for either team.

All of this is going on despite people on both sides going on and on about how important the FA Cup is. This match matters! Kind of. Maybe?

Emmanuel Adebayor said, "I want to win the FA Cup with Tottenham. To do that would be special, a dream for me." And Roberto di Matteo countered with, "It's a domestic trophy, and a tradition-rich trophy, well-known all over the world, the FA Cup. "It's prestigious to be able to win it.''

There's no doubt that this match is incredibly important to the fans. Both sides are desperate for a trophy and with Liverpool, who nobody considers a top side, waiting in the final, this is an obvious opportunity to get some silverware.

So here's what we know so far: This match matters a lot and everyone really wants that shiny trophy, neither team really knows who they will be able to play and both teams are only 50/50 shots to show up and play like a semi-professional team. Fits right in with everything else this season.

What we know is that we don't know anything, or at least we don't know anything that that might possibly be good news. Ryan Nelsen and William Gallas are the only fit central defenders so at least Harry Redknapp doesn't have to make a choice there. Niko Kranjcar is also out, limiting the options in the midfield and Scott Parker is a doubt as well. Toss in a doubtful Louis Saha and all is just lovely.

If Parker isn't fit, Harry is going to have to decide between Sandro and Jake Livermore. Sandro has been his pick of late, but he's put in a couple performances that would generously be described as shaky. Meanwhile, it wasn't too long ago that Livermore was Spurs' only useful player against Manchester United.

There is the comfort of knowing that Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Kyle Walker, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon, Rafael van der Vaart and Emmanuel Adebayor will all be fit to go and, assumedly, will be in their normal positions.

Having the width of Bale and Lennon will be key because Chelsea have Jose Bosingwa at one fullback and Ashley Cole, who is not quite fully fit, at the other. That's a recipe for succes for Spurs, if they can remember to run at the fullbacks, of course, which is no guarantee.

As cover for their fullbacks, di Matteo might drop Daniel Sturridge for Solomon Kalou, which is a net gain for Spurs. Frank Lampard and Michael Essien figure to get the nod in the center of the pitch, meaning no great tackler so if Spurs can grab a hold of the ball they can do some real damage.

Of course, this is all guessing at what Chelsea will do. Sturridge could start, but Cole could be held out for the Champions League. John Terry looks likely to be held out for the Champions League, but he could start and Didier Drogba is in the same boat. Basically, we know nothing.

There you have it. Nearly 600 words that could be summer up as, "what the hell are they going to do?' Then again, that's the entire Tottenham season in a nutshell.