Mark Lawrenson believes Tottenham will earn a comfortable victory over last season’s Premier League title rivals Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side play their first match at the home of English football since relocating to the 90,000-capacity stadium, with Antonio Conte’s Chelsea the visitors.
Spurs come into the match after securing a comfortable 2-0 victory over Newcastle at St. James’ Park on Sunday, while Chelsea suffered a surprise 3-2 home defeat to Sean Dyche’s Burnley at Stamford Bridge.
Lawrenson said on BBC Sport’s website that he expects Spurs to secure all three points with a 2-0 win against a side that they lost to twice last season in the league and the semi-final of the FA Cup.
“I just think Chelsea are all over the place, as we saw against Burnley last week,” Lawrenson said. “I am going to go for a Spurs win – if I am right, then Chelsea really are in crisis, aren’t they?”
Chelsea will be without Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas after they were both sent off against Burnley last Saturday, while Eden Hazard, Pedro and Tiemoue Bakayoko all remain sidelined through injury.
Tottenham are not without their injury problems either, as Georges N’Koudou, Erik Lamela and Danny Rose are all expected to miss the match, while Kieran Trippier is a doubt with an ankle problem.
In a match that could prove crucial come the end of the season, Spurs will feel they can compound Chelsea’s misery by securing three points.
OPINION
Mauricio Pochettino must inform his Tottenham players to attack Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, with the club currently suffering from multiple injury problems and in a state of crisis that has seen Conte frustrated in the transfer market. Diego Costa’s situation is yet to be settled, and Spurs will see Sunday’s clash as an opportunity to get one over the champions. However, Argentinian manager Pochettino must still warn his players that Chelsea have plenty of attacking stars that can still cause problems, and will want his Tottenham defence to be on guard throughout the entire 90 minutes. The outcome of the match will also have huge bearing on whether moving to Wembley will be a success throughout 2017-18.