adminAlan Shearer and Jamie Carragher are both tipping Chelsea to come out on top against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Chelsea sit fourth in the Premier League and head into the fixture in solid form, having won their last two league matches. Spurs, meanwhile, are languishing in 16th, though they did secure their first league victory of the season against Coventry last Monday and will be hoping to build some momentum from that result.
Tottenham’s record at Chelsea’s home ground makes for grim reading — their last win there came in April 2018, when Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli (twice) scored for Mauricio Pochettino’s side. Roberto De Zerbi will be eager to end that drought, but the Lilywhites will need to produce their best performance yet if they are to overcome Xabi Alonso’s team.
Shearer has been impressed by Chelsea this season and expects the west London club to take all three points. Speaking to Betfair, the former Premier League striker said: “I was impressed with [Moises] Caicedo. Chelsea are looking a more well-rounded team and I think Caicedo’s played a huge part in that — he’s made the difference.
“It was only the last two or three games that that’s happened. I think the reason for that is because of what Caicedo gives you in midfield. Him and [Jordan] Henderson have done really well. No surprise they’ve stiffened up a bit with those two in midfield.
“Spurs did all right. Great to see [James] Maddison back and scoring a goal. [Dejan] Kulusevski came back in for the last few minutes and got a good reception. I still didn’t think they played great, despite getting a good result. So I’m going to go for a Chelsea home win.”
Carragher agrees with Shearer and is backing Alonso to get the better of De Zerbi. “What a cracking line-up we have in the Premier League this weekend,” Carragher told Sky Sports.
“I don’t think Arsenal will have any problems beating Everton, especially given how strong they’ve been this season. However, Brighton might not be so lucky at Anfield as I can see Liverpool ending their winning streak. Elsewhere, I see Chelsea winning against Spurs at home on Saturday.”
Chris Sutton, writing in his BBC column, praised the recent form of both sides but insisted Tottenham’s poor record at Stamford Bridge will continue this weekend.
“We were talking on the Monday Night Club about what Chelsea could do this season without any European football,” Sutton said. “Tottenham are not in Europe either, of course, but they do not look like they are going to be challenging at the top of the table the way Xabi Alonso’s side are.
“People keep saying how good Chelsea’s attack is, but their 2-0 win over Everton last time out was their first clean sheet of the campaign in the league, and that side of things still needs to improve. Spurs, meanwhile, do seem to be getting better, albeit slowly. It was a big result for them to beat Coventry on Monday but they have an awful record at Stamford Bridge, with only one win there in the Premier League era. I do not see them getting anything this time, either.”
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