Tottenham Hotspur V Chelsea - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.Mauricio Pochettino expects Chelsea to be in Champions League contentionTottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino still expects Chelsea to challenge for the top four this season.The Blues are enduring a nightmare start to their title defence and will arrive at White Hart Lane on Sunday 10 points and 10 places behind their London rivals.Spurs, in fifth, are favourites to pick up three points and heap more misery on Jose Mourinho's stuttering side.But Pochettino is conscious Chelsea have had two more days to prepare for the clash against a Tottenham squad who only arrived back from a gruelling 5,000-mile round trip to Azerbaijan on Friday morning."Chelsea have very good players and a great manager," Pochettino said"It's always difficult to speak about another team because when you are outside that club you do not know what is going on and it is difficult to analyse."Sometimes teams have bad results and that can change a very good team
But they have time to recover and come back still this season."They also have extra days to prepare for our match
I am expecting a very tough game because they have very good players."Tottenham won the corresponding fixture last season 5-3 on New Year's Day - a result Pochettino admits gave his side the belief they were ready to mix it with the big boys.Mourinho did not speak to his opposite number after that match and, although Pochettino has a good relationship with the Chelsea chief, he will be hoping to get under his skin again on Sunday."That match was very special," the Argentinian said
"It was very important for us
It was an important time to believe in ourselves and for the young players."For many players it was that belief that we can achieve important things
Now our mentality is that every time we play we need to show we have the quality to win every game."When you work hard and you play well you need a positive result to be confident and to believe
The positive result was the victory against Chelsea
It helped the team to believe more."We started to feel that the players believe, they are confident and comfortable in the way we play, the way we train, and I think that is the most important thing."It was difficult for (Mourinho) because he was very upset and didn't speak
I could understand - it has been like that some games for me. "Sometimes when you have lost you don't want to speak to anybody
But we have a very good relationship and I am sure we will say hello before the game on Sunday."This weekend we will be enemies because we both want to win the game
But I have respect for him."He was very good with me when I was at Espanyol and he was at Real Madrid
He is not a close friend but I have a very good relationship with him."Dele Alli is suspended for Spurs but Kyle Walker, Danny Rose and Mousa Dembele return after they were rested for Thursday's 1-0 Europa League win over Qarabag in Baku.Mourinho may have conceded defeat in Chelsea's bid to retain the Barclays Premier League title after their miserable start to the season, but he has called on his players to play like champions.The Blues have endured a woeful title defence, slipping to 15th place entering this weekend's fixtures. Successive wins for just a second time this season - against Norwich and Maccabi Tel Aviv - have restored some confidence, but the trip to White Hart Lane will be a test of the resurgence.Mourinho believes a top-four finish and Champions League qualification is not beyond his team, but feels the title is, given the deficit Chelsea would need to overhaul to a number of teams."We have to play every match as if we are fighting for the title," Mourinho said."But the reality is we need points, the same way we needed last season, when we were top of the table and almost champions and fighting to be champions."In this moment we are far from even the European positions
We have to play every game with ambition, with determination."Every point until the end of the season can make a difference
We lost so many points already that now we have to fight for every point even more."Mourinho has stated his happiness to continue with his current squad amid speculation of changes in January.His focus until the turn of the year is on Chelsea finding momentum, continuing at a venue where they have one win in the last 10 visits and lost 5-3 on New Year's Day in a performance which exposed frailties which are now familiar."We are in November and we are all focused on doing our job the best we can," Mourinho added."We are not speaking about players, about buying, about spending
We are thinking about what we can do now."Now the only thing we can do until the last day in December is to try to get the maximum points possible - try to arrive at the end of December, half a season played, and try to be in a position where we can smell the top part of the league and (so) we can believe that in the second part of the season we will be able to reach the top positions."
Source : DSG
Source: DSG