Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has predicted that Tottenham will come away with a point when they welcome unbeaten Chelsea to Wembley on Saturday.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men will be looking to inflict a first defeat of the Premier League season on the Blues, who have begun life under Maurizio Sarri with huge promise.
Merson has however predicted that Spurs will only manage a 1-1 draw on Saturday, pointing out a lack of squad depth as the major issue facing Pochettino.
In his predictions for Sky Sports, Merson said: “It should be a great game and for both sets of fans, this is the game. So a massive match and I do not see a great deal between the two teams. At the moment, Chelsea’s match winners are playing better than Tottenham’s, like Eden Hazard, Ross Barkley, Willian and even Pedro had one of his best games against Palace.
“I do not see Chelsea losing, so I am going for a draw, which would be a good result for them. I mean, let’s be honest, Chelsea are not going to win the league this season, top four is the main thing. Tottenham, meanwhile, have set themselves a really high standard and they are probably better off than they have been all season.
“But these players have to keep doing this week in week out, they do not have the squad. If they are losing on Saturday, Mauricio Pochettino will turn round to the bench, but who will he bring on? Whereas if Chelsea are losing, Barkley, Olivier Giroud, or Pedro could be a sub and these are players who can come on and change a game.”
OPINION
This is a relatively safe prediction from Merson, and you can obviously understand his logic here. Both of these teams have had good seasons in the Premier League so far, with just two points separating them ahead of kick-off. Chelsea have obviously been the more consistent side, with Sarri’s team yet to be beaten in the league, but Tottenham have achieved some impressive results on their way to 27 points from 12 games. A huge 3-0 away win over Manchester United earlier in the campaign will give them some serious confidence going into this one, as will an unlucky display in their narrow loss to league leaders Manchester City. Chelsea’s unconvincing form before the international break, which saw them draw 0-0 with Everton, will also give Tottenham heart. Merson picking out depth is important, but Spurs actually have more depth than he suggests. Players like Son Heung-min, Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura could be on the bench, and that is some serious firepower for Pochettino to call upon.