BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton expects Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea to be a feisty affair
Thomas Frank will be looking for a positive response from his boys when Tottenham Hotspur take on Chelsea on Saturday evening.
Newcastle United beat Spurs 2-0 in the Carabao Cup fourth round in what was an overall poor performance from Thomas Frank’s side. When it comes to the Premier League, the north Londoners have been solid, winning five out of nine games thus far. They lie third in the table and should be raring to make it back-to-back wins in the Premier League by beating Chelsea.
Spurs will aim to end a miserable run of form against the Blues in what promises to be another fiercely contested London derby. Enzo Maresca’s side are currently placed ninth in the Premier League table, and they were humbled 2-1 at home by Sunderland in their last league outing. The Pensioners did bounce back by beating Wolves 4-3 in the Carabao Cup fourth round in midweek.
Chris Sutton makes prediction for Tottenham vs Chelsea
The biggest issue for Thomas Frank currently is that Spurs currently have double-digit injury absentees, with young Archie Gray becoming the latest casualty after suffering a calf problem last week at AS Monaco. In a welcome news for Tottenham fans, Frank has revealed in his presser that Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie and Wilson Odobert are all fit and available for selection for the Chelsea encounter.
Chris Sutton has now delivered his prediction for the weekend’s juicy encounter. The BBC Sports pundit claims that neither side are at their best at the moment, with Chelsea being “flaky” over recent weeks. He suggests that Tottenham’s growing injury list has been hampering Frank and Co., predicting that the two sides would play out a 1-1 draw.
“This is always a bit of a grudge game because the two sets of fans don’t really like each other,” Chris Sutton wrote in his BBC Sport column.
“Chelsea need the result more, and they also have a much better record in this fixture, but their home defeat against Sunderland was another example of how flaky they are at the moment.
“Tottenham have made a better start to the season, but it still feels like there is more to come from them when their injured players come back – which won’t happen this week. I don’t really know which way to go with my prediction, so I am going to go for a draw. I feel like I am turning into AI.”
Tottenham have to beat Chelsea at home
Another thing that worries the Tottenham fans heading into the London derby against Chelsea is the home form. The Lilywhites’ home form has been terrible since the start of the last season, continuing into this term. Frank’s side have won just once at home in four league games, which came on the opening weekend against newly-promoted Burnley.
While it is a worrying stat, it should motivate the players even more to perform in front of the home crowd when Maresca’s side pays a visit. It would be up to the player to use the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium faithful as the 12th man and end this wretched run of form against the Blues. Considering it is a derby, our fans would assume the players would require no extra motivation to step up and give their 100 per cent to get the bragging rights.
A win over Chelsea will mean the Carabao Cup elimination at the hands of Newcastle will quickly become history, but another loss at home will intensify the pressure on Frank.
