Chelsea take on Spurs in the Premier League on Thursday and according to pundit Michael Owen, the Lilywhites are likely to come out of the match with all three points.
Owen believes the two teams are pretty evenly matched but one man could turn out to be the point of difference between the two London sides in midweek.
The pundit wrote for BetVictor: “Chelsea visit Spurs with Thomas Tuchel’s first three points as Blues manager in the bag after Sunday’s 2-0 home win against Burnley.
“For Spurs, their Sunday wasn’t as successful as they went down 1-0 away to Brighton.
“Talk of winning the title will seem like a distant memory for Spurs’ fans, but I just wonder what Jose Mourinho has up his sleeve ahead of this one.
“It’ll be an interesting battle between the two managers, and even though Tottenham haven’t had the results they may have wanted recently, these are the types of matches where Jose Mourinho excels.
“With that in mind, I fancy Spurs to just edge it over their London rivals.”
Jose Mourinho relishes these types of games and since this one’s against Chelsea, the Portuguese would love to pick up a handsome win.
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But it will be easier said than done since the Tottenham boss will be without some key players on Thursday.
The first and most obvious miss will be Harry Kane who will not be fit in time and along with the forward, Mourinho will also be without the likes of Reguilon and Lo Celso.
Jose Mourinho heavily relies on the partnership of Kane and Son to break down defences during counter-attacks but we don’t think Spurs will have the same level of joy with someone like Bergwijn or Vinicius up front.
The Spurs boss will obviously set up his side to defend deep and then rely on a quick break to pick up a win so eventually, the outcome of this match will be decided on how players like Eric Dier and Alderweireld play on Thursday.
