Mauricio Pochettino previews Chelsea’s clash with Spurs
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is at least one former boss who thinks Tottenham are title contenders. However, he does admit his direct information is a little sketchy as he has not been back to White Hart Lane since his November 2019 departure – even for a spying mission.
“It is early in the season but they are showing the quality to be a contender,” the Argentinian said. “Ange Postecoglou and the other coaches, they are doing a fantastic job. Very good players, very good team and you can feel they can be a contender.
”Not that I have been back to White Hart Lane to see them. I was thinking about dressing in a different way – to put on some sort of mask – but I think it was too risky.”
Pochettino is not the only Chelsea employee who has been hard to spot this season. Striker Armando Broja has been out since injuring his knee during the last international break, but could be in line for an appearance on Monday night.
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“It’s good because today we were talking and maybe he will be available to be on the bench for Monday,” Pochettino said. “He was training today and before in the last few days, and doing well. I hope that he can be involved in the game, but still it’s not confirmed.”
Blues captain Reece James is also in line for a possible start after an hour of Carabao Cup action in midweek. “We’ll see,” Pochettino said. “We’ll see first of all if he’s available. Then if my decision is to play with him or not.
“It was good for him to start a game after a few months. For the team, because he’s our captain, he’s a very important player. Now we need to assess him to see if he’s ready to start or not on Monday.”
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Chelsea have endured a miserable start to the campaign and are 11th in the Premier League table after winning just three of their first 10 matches. Two of those victories have come on the road, however, as the Blues recorded back-to-back wins against Fulham and Burnley at the start of October.
But Pochettino’s team have struggled to put a run of form together since the campaign got underway and were defeated 2-0 at home by Brentford last time out. And the trip to north London is as tough as they come, with Spurs still unbeaten in the league this season.
CHELSEA PROBABLE: Sanchez; James, Silva, Colwill, Cucurella; Gallagher, Fernandez, Caicedo; Sterling, Palmer, Mudryk
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