Tottenham
Whilst Antonio Conte continues to recover from his surgery – and I’m sure I can speak for all at SBN when I say we join in the football community wishing him a speedy recovery – Spurs have gotten excellent results! Of course, football is the least important on the list of important things. Health, love, and family will always trump them.
Cristian Romero has returned to Spurs from injury and no doubt will add incredible value to Spurs but in Son Heung-min I think I have been most impressed. This is an incredibly talented footballer who has started on the bench and whilst there might be elements of frustration and anger – he has been incredible for Spurs. His attitude is even more commendable by the way.
Spurs have sort of floated under the radar this season, I would go as far as to say that putting a line through the Leicester result and accepting the AC Milan visit would stand this team in a positive light. They have conceded just five goals in their last six games – a statistic which I’m going to argue is a positive one. They host a bitter rival under a lot of pressure, and I think their ability to keep clean sheets at home might see them pose a real threat to the three points on offer.
Predicted Line-up: Forster, Romero, Dier, Lenglet, Emerson, Hojbjerg, Sarr, Davies, Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
Chelsea
For Graham Potter, this is a massive game. Admittedly the pressure on Chelsea and their boss is often ridiculed but I think I can now say that Potter’s job is under immense pressure. Chelsea just misses too many opportunities to be a competitive side in Europe.
I know they are celebrated as a club who are looking forward, they have pots of gold and seemingly passionate backing…but the price for such is usually high and cut-throat. The Blues have taken just three points for a possible 15 in the league which now see them languishing in 10th place.
They play a side now who with respect can absolutely blow them away – but lack consistency themselves. On the other hand, Potter will surely see this game as an opportunity for his side to gain confidence and then kick-on for the remainder of the season.
Predicted Line-up: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Badiashile, Koulibaly, Chillwell, Kovacic, Fernandez, Mudryk, Felix, Mount, Sterling.