Tottenham will beat ‘weaker’ Chelsea and believe they can win the Premier League title, says Jamie Redknapp

Arch enemies | Spurs take on Chelsea at Wembley
Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images
Richard Parry20 August 2017

Tottenham can set a precedent for their season at Wembley Stadium with a campaign-defining result against rivals Chelsea.

That’s the belief of former player, and football pundit, Jamie Redknapp.

Spurs play their first league match at Wembley following their temporary move across north London, as work continues on their new £800million stadium.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side, who finished runners-up last season, won their opening match away to Newcastle, while reigning champions Chelsea made a nightmare start to their campaign.

Work continues on Tottenham's new stadium

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Antonio Conte’s side suffered a shock defeat at home to Burnley in their opening match, and Redknapp believes the Blues are there for the taking this afternoon.

"Chelsea are wounded, you couldn't ask for a better time to play them," the former Spurs captain told Sky Sports. "You just feel a few of them are getting their parachutes out and making excuses.

"You're hearing things about Conte, 'He's not a great man-manager.' He was phenomenal last season.

"All of a sudden there's a lot coming out of Chelsea that wasn't there last year so Tottenham need to make it count and put the Wembley talk to bed.

"They have weakened themselves (in the transfer market) when they should have been kicking on, it's incredible, but this start had been coming after their preparations.”

Spurs have so far been far more reserved in the transfer window, with Kyle Walker’s £50m move to Manchester City the major piece of business prior to Friday’s announcement that a deal had been agreed for Ajax defender Davinson Sanchez.

Pochettino hopes to complete that signing, plus another three, before the close of the window, and Redknapp believes that continuity in Tottenham’s starting XI could prove the decisive this afternoon.

"I fancy Spurs and I'll be surprised if they don't win this game," Redknapp continued. "They beat Chelsea last year with two Dele Alli headers and I look at the midfield area and wonder how Chelsea can compete.

"Matic and N'Golo Kante was the perfect balance but that's gone and Tiemoue Bakayoko has had injury problems for a while now, going back to his time at Monaco.

"Christian Eriksen caused them a lot of problems at White Hart Lane and Spurs as a team have caused Chelsea more problems than anyone else over the last 12 months.

"The likes of Alli should be looking at this as a brilliant experience, not just for Tottenham but for England too. He's such a special talent and in Harry Kane they have the best centre-forward in the country.

"With their XI they should not fear anybody, whether it's at Wembley or not. There's a vulnerability about Chelsea and Arsenal and Spurs should be thinking, 'We can win the league this year'."

"This game, without overstating it, is almost their season. If they can get a result everyone then stops talking about their record at Wembley.

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