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Petit first came to prominence in the Premiership after being signed by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger from Monaco for £2.5million in the summer of 1997.
The French international was a relative unknown at this point in his career, but before long had struck up one of the finest midfield partnership's England has ever seen with Patrick Vieira.
Petit’s presence in Sunday's derby battle will add further spice to a traditionally spiky fixture.
Four players - Chelsea trio Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Frank Lampard and Graeme Le Saux, plus Tottenham's Mauricio Taricco - were sent off in five clashes between the teams last term.
But Petit, who has revealed he only turned down Spurs' tempting offer last year out of loyalty to his former Gunners pals, insists he has every respect for the improvements manager Glenn Hoddle has made at the club.
"We played them five times last season and won four," said Petit. "But every game is different and I'm expecting it will be very tough this time.
"They (Spurs) have done well for Hoddle and they go into the match with the same points as us.
"Although we have come out of a bad spell when we lost three matches in a week, we know we still have some hard work ahead.
"Everything can change quickly. A few weeks ago we were third in the table, then seventh and now third again. We still have to show a bit more personality on the pitch and to keep the ball more.
"We felt very low after we lost to West Ham, then Viking in the UEFA Cup and then that last-minute defeat at Liverpool, but after two wins in a row since then we feel very up again.
"The lesson is you just have to keep working and stay focused no matter what the results."
Chelsea have had to abandon their preferred gameplan of wide midfielders due to the absence of wingers Boudewijn Zenden through an ankle injury and Jesper Gronkjaer because of a "personal family problem".
But £15million striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is beginning to find his shooting form again after a lean start to the campaign.
He admits his relationship with manager Claudio Ranieri became strained when, following summer surgery on a damaged hip, he was repeatedly substituted - and even relegated to the the bench on two occasions - in the first seven Premiership games.
The Dutchman did not score at all during that spell and said: "I'm the kind of player who needs games and needs to score goals.
"It didn't help me at all when the manager had me in and out of the side. I didn't complain to him but I thought there could have been a bit more belief in me and I think our relationship was tested."
But Hasselbaink, whose 29 goals last term included a hat-trick in the home league game against Spurs, was on target in both the last two victories against Manchester City and West Brom.
And Ranieri, who denies any split with his star striker, said: "He's had to come back from an injury but he's back in very good form now and I'm happy about that before a tough game against Spurs."
Tottenham, in fact, have beaten Chelsea just once in 12 years - the 5-1 Worthington Cup semi-final success last season, but Ranieri said: "I try to forget that result but what I remember is the way Spurs played that day and the fantastic goal they scored from Teddy Sheringham.
"We beat them two more times after that but I would like to go there and win again because they are an improved team this season and it would tell me how well we are doing after the one bad week we had."
email me: stevefurlong@chelsea-mad.co.uk