Sutton’s predictions: Tottenham v Chelseapublished at 16:00 Greenwich Mean Time
Tottenham v Chelsea (Sun, 17:30 GMT)
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou got a fair bit of flak after going over to speak to some Spurs fans following Thursday’s defeat by Bournemouth.
Football is a fickle business sometimes. It wasn’t a good result, but you only have to go back a week or two and they were cheering Ange off after winning at Etihad Stadium.
Usually I would expect a reaction from Spurs but they are so unpredictable that I don’t know what will happen. They could win this game 4-0 like they did against Manchester City, or lose it by the same scoreline.
So, I am going with Chelsea here. While I do wonder about their experience, I think Enzo Maresca’s side are title contenders even if he insists they aren’t.
Maresca may genuinely believe that, or he might be saying it to take the pressure off his players.
When I won the title with Blackburn in 1995, the club’s owner Jack Walker, always planned to win it the year after, but when you are in the title race and you keep winning then there is no reason why you shouldn’t embrace being ahead of schedule.
Everyone slammed Chelsea’s owners for spending so much on so many players and building such a big squad, but maybe there was a method in what people saw as madness.
They are playing with real confidence at the moment and look completely different to the team they were last season. Nicolas Jackson is an example of how much they have improved and, after being rested against Southampton in midweek, he will be refreshed and ready to go.
This was the game last year where Spurs went down to nine men and lost 4-1. If there is any element of doubt from their players in their style of play, then Chelsea could take them apart again this time too.
Sutton’s prediction: 1-3
