Arsenal legend Paul Merson believes that Tottenham’s newfound confidence could work against them when Chelsea come to town on Monday night. Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues will go into the game off the back of a disappointing defeat to Brentford, but a dynamite performance from Cole Palmer gave fans something positive to stew on.
In years gone by, Chelsea routinely went into meetings with Spurs as the overwhelming favourites, but the two sides are poles apart at this stage of the campaign.
Ange Postecoglou has hit the ground running in north London, with Tottenham top of the Premier League table and undefeated after 10 matches. Pochettino, meanwhile, has only won three league games as his Chelsea side languish in the bottom half.
The Blues have struggled particularly against teams they should overpower on paper, with last Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Brentford a case in point.
“I’d be more confident of going to Tottenham on Monday than playing Brentford at home,” Merson told Sky Sports. “I know Tottenham are going to have a go. I know [Raheem] Sterling, [Nicolas] Jackson and people like that on the counter-attack… I’ve seen Chelsea on the counter-attack.”
While Spurs are expected to try and put Chelsea on the back foot, Merson believes that Palmer could be the key to unlocking more stubborn defences later in the season, like the one Brentford set up at Stamford Bridge last time out.
“I’ll be shocked if Chelsea lose on Monday, I’ll be shocked. This is the only time in a long time that Tottenham fans will be turning up expecting to beat Chelsea, and they should, but it’s a different pressure now.”
Pochettino will be desperate to prove Merson right and come out on the winning side against his former employers, having spent five years with the Lilywhites between 2014 and 2019.
