The pressure is already on Erik ten Hag and Steven Gerrard. Tottenham’s trip to Chelsea should be a doozy, while we all wait to see the state of Barca.
Game to watch – Chelsea v Tottenham
The first big-six clash of the new season sees Tottenham go to Chelsea hoping for only a second win at Stamford Bridge in 32 and a half years. Spurs fans will be entitled to think this time might be different to all-but-one of their last 36 shleps across London.
“It’s very clear, there is an important gap,” said Antonio Conte after their most recent league defeat at the Bridge back in January. But since then, with Conte’s nous and some decisive and savvy-looking recruitment, the chasm seems to have closed between last season’s third and fourth-placed finishers.
Indeed, many – well, many of us – reckon Conte’s men look better placed than Chelsea to bridge the even wider void between the top two and the best of the rest.
Regardless of whether you believe them to be capable of challenging for the title, this is certainly the first major test of their credentials, the result of which will doubtless prompt knees to jerk in all sorts of weird and awkward angles either way.
Spurs began their campaign by smashing Saints with a team made up entirely of players who were there last season, which presents Conte with a dilemma when he goes back to his former club: stick with the old, or twist with some of the new?
The temptation to highlight how far his coaching has brought ‘the older players’ may be too much to resist, but the biggest difference with Spurs this season is the depth Conte has at his disposal. Of the six new faces, Ivan Perisic and Yves Bissouma look best placed to come in, with the latter’s aggression perhaps required to cause havoc in Thomas Tuchel’s engine room.
This will also be Kalidou Koulibaly’s first real test after his debut at Everton last week. Tuchel wanted his defence sorted by now. That it isn’t yet could play directly into Conte’s hands, with Richarlison available to make his debut after sitting out last week through suspension.
Aside from being a litmus test for Spurs and Chelsea and each side’s prospects for the season, we should also relish this match-up in isolation – it could be an early-season classic.
Team to watch – Aston Villa
There’s no sugar-coating it – Villa were sh*te last week.
Steven Gerrard’s side began his first full season (assuming it becomes such) with a defeat at newly-promoted…
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