LONDON – Tottenham Hotspurs face city rivals Chelsea this Sunday in a match they can send a message about their ambitions to challenge for the Premier League title this season.
Spurs have lived up to the pre-season hype that they could challenge for the Premier League title by going top of the table on the opening weekend of the season, but will face a truer test of their qualifications at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Antonio Conte has been heavily backed in his first full season as Spurs boss with the signings of Richarlison, Yves Bissouma, Ivan Perisic, Djed Spence, Clement Lenglet and Fraser Forster in the transfer window.
But none of the six new faces started in an impressive 4-1 win over Southampton to underline the strength Conte now offers in depth.
However, Spurs have won just once in the league in 32 years at Stamford Bridge and a victory over the Blues would send a declaration of intent at the start of the season that they can close the gap on Manchester City and Liverpool.
Chelsea also got off to a winning start in a less flamboyant fashion as they needed a Jorginho penalty to beat Everton 1-0.
Thomas Tuchel called for improvement at the weekend but believes Chelsea will improve as the season progresses after a turbulent 2022 which saw the club suffer penalties before Todd Boehly’s consortium took control of Roman Abramovich.
The American hasn’t been shy about backing Tuchel with the signings of Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella and Carney Chukwuemeka.
And Sterling believes Chelsea are also on the rise as he explained his reasons for leaving Manchester City on Thursday.
“Look at Chelsea in recent years, there’s been four or five finals they’ve been in,” said the England international.
“It’s a team that shows it can be competitive and keep improving. So with the new owner and the acquisition, it made a lot of sense.”
- Editor / additional report by AFP
