Premier League Preview: Tottenham hope to derail Chelsea

Antonio Conte is relaxed about record-chasing Chelsea being the target of jealousy and understands if most people want Tottenham to win Wednesday night’s derby clash.

Even before the 2016-17 season began, Tottenham Hotspur separated itself from the Premier League’s other title contenders.

Pochettino told reporters after the match, “I think it was a little bit tough last season to explain why in the end we didn’t win the title or lift a trophy”.

They fought last season and they can fight also this year.

But Courtois was unable to rescue his team when Eriksen and Alli were both given time and space to conjure the opening goal.

Chelsea matched up against their opponents with a 3-4-3 formation of their own, which has catapulted them to the top of the league in recent months.

The Portuguese made the comments after his team’s 2-0 win over West Ham on Monday, just two days after their grueling comeback win over Middlesbrough on New Year’s Eve.

Chelsea’s lead over second-placed Liverpool is down to five points after their first defeat since September.

“We are very happy, I think we played well”.

Both Chelsea and Spurs are coming off of four-goal hauls against Stoke and Watford, respectively, and confidence will be high in both camps. “So the next step is to try to win our matches, but in relation to Tottenham versus Chelsea… we hope that it is an unbelievable match”. We lost, we have to accept that and to come back stronger, with strong character and with a desire to win.

“But for me, the advantages are other things – during a season, different situations can happen when you can have advantages – but, for sure, not this”.

“That’s good for us, to have a manager who is not just a boss, but like a person we can talk with, someone whose support we can count on in hard moments”.

If Spurs get results there to back up this outstanding win against Chelsea, maybe they and their fans can start to believe they have a real chance of making up for the disappointment of last season.

The Blues’ new manager Antonio Conte has enjoyed great success after opting to play with three at the back – but Spurs have also looked unsafe when using wing-backs, and their 3-0 and 4-1 victories over Hull and Watford in the last month owed much to the effectiveness of their marauding full-backs.