Tottenham Hotspurs have knocked Chelsea off the top place in the Premier League table and have taken the position for themselves. After their recent victory over Manchester City, they have officially extended their unbeaten league run to eight games. With 20 points, Spurs are in the lead and, right behind them are the Reds who won their long-awaited Premier League title last season after a whopping 30-year drought. Tottenham are rampaging through their matches, emerging victorious after stunning performances. Chelsea faces them on the 29th and, we cannot wait to see the two world-class teams clash. Will the Blues manage to break Tottenham’s 8 games unbeaten record so far?
Gary Neville, Sky Sports pundit and former footballer, is particularly thrilled to see how Jose Mourinho and Frank Lampard approach next Sunday’s clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea FC at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have also recently secured a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United after an own goal by Federico Fernandez and Tammy Abraham’s strike and, they were briefly in the top position with 18 points. However, that was shortlived, and Tottenham Hotspur quickly took their place.
Neville further commented on how he was eager to see the two rivals, Mourinho and Lampard, face one another next Sunday.
“It is an interesting season. We thought Chelsea might be interesting at the start of the season as they have a young, exciting squad – it looks like Frank Lampard is starting to get it right.
“He was still searching for his best team in the first few matches to try and fit everyone in. Certain players weren’t fit but, now they are and, he is starting to work it out. They look pretty strong.
“Is it a season where Jose Mourinho and Frank Lampard being up against each other in a title race?
“I thought Liverpool would run away with it, but not now, not the with Virgil van Dijk injury. That’s the one that is the game-changer and exposes them a lot more.”
With Liverpool’s defence heavily compromised, the title is up for grabs and Chelsea have not won the Premier League crown since Antonio Conte led the Blues to victory in 2016-17. Tottenham, on the other hand, are looking to win their very first Premier League title after painfully ending up in second place twice in a row under Mauricio Pochettino.
The North London side are thirsty for the title and evading them will be a difficult task indeed. However, Craig Burley, a commentator for ESPN and BT Sport, believes Chelsea will finish ahead of Tottenham this season. Undoubtedly, we can all agree Spurs are doing a fantastic job this season. The Lilywhites have won six of their nine games in the top flight this term which leaves them at the top of the table, with Chelsea trailing behind. However, Burley simply believes the Blues have a much more talented team than Spurs and are much better equipped to move ahead of them. He justifies this by emphasizing the amount of attacking players Chelsea has.
“Tottenham have a good squad but, Chelsea have an unbelievable amount of attacking players.
“They got great experience in with the signing of Thiago Silva, they have got a natural left-back in Ben Chilwell. The rise of Reece James has been meteoric. He is taking his game to a new level.
“They have strengthened their goalkeeper situation and, Frank [Lampard] has mentioned that N’Golo Kante is looking like the player he was a couple of years ago.
“I just think Chelsea have better options [than Tottenham]. They are in as good shape as they can be to mount a title challenge.”
Players like Tammy Abraham and Antonio Rudiger are proof of Burley’s speculation. Although it might be difficult for him to find a regular starting spot in the team, Abraham has still managed to score three goals and made one assist for the Blues in five of Chelsea FC’s nine games. Antonio Rudiger also had a no less than exceptional performance in the Blues’ recent match and Joe Cole was highly impressed with what he saw from Rudiger in his first Premier League appearance of the season for the west London side.
“Rudiger is a difficult one because he’s been captain and he’s a senior player but, you have to give credit where credit is due.”
“He just came in did his job and, it was an exceptional performance.”
However, Tottenham Hotspurs is not to be underestimated. With the likes of Harry Kane, one of Europe’s deadliest strikers with a total of 119 goals in the past five seasons, Spurs are certainly a force to be reckoned with. Son Heung-min put Spurs in front after five minutes, finishing coolly from Tanguy Ndombele’s pass before Manchester City had a first-half goal ruled out by VAR. Giovani lo Celso, with the help of a Harry Kane pass, managed to score the second goal after coming on as the ‘dream substitution’.
