Former Chelsea and England striker Chris Sutton has shared his prediction ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League opener against Southampton tomorrow afternoon.
Sutton, who has taken over the mantle of predictions from Mark Lawrenson at the BBC has tipped Tottenham to take all three points against the Saints at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Antonio Conte has added six new faces to his squad since the end of last season with Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma, Richarlison, Clement Lenglet and Djed Spence.
Sutton believes the attacking threat of Harry Kane and Heung-min Son will prove to be enough to beat the Saints, who took four points off the north Londoners last season.
New arrival Richarlison is serving a one-match suspension following his time at Everton while Oliver Skipp definitely misses out with a foot injury, while Yves Bissouma will be assessed ahead of the match due to a hamstring issue (Spurs official).
He told the BBC: “There is a lot of excitement around Tottenham, but then it is the same at the start of every season.
“I know Richarlison is suspended for this game but it is going to be interesting to see how he fits into their team after joining from Everton.
MORE SPURS STORIES
“Dejan Kulusevski did really well after arriving in January and we know how good Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane are, so I don’t know how Antonio Conte will fit them all into his team. Still, it’s not a bad problem to have.
“In contrast to what is expected from Spurs, a lot of people seem to be predicting Southampton will get relegated.
“But Saints seem to get written off every season and then prove people wrong.
“They have suffered some heavy defeats in recent years but they have also picked up some impressive results under Ralph Hasenhuttl – they drew home and away with Manchester City in the league last season and also won at Conte’s Spurs.
“I don’t see a repeat of that result on Saturday, though. Instead, I’m going for the old Kane and Son one-two to get the job done for Spurs again.
“In 2020-21, those two broke the record for the most goal/assist combinations that myself and Alan Shearer held from our Blackburn days, and they remain very hard to stop. They still haven’t won the Premier League like we did though, have they?
“Sutton’s prediction: 2-1.”
SpursWeb Opinion
Tottenham need to get off to the best possible start with a victory against Southampton, and with the greatest respect to the Saints, if Spurs harbour any ambition of pushing for silverware and improving on fourth place then home matches like this should be a given.
James Ward-Prowse has been a thorn in the side of Spurs for some time with his deadly delivery from set pieces, an aspect of Tottenham’s game which needs significant improvement and was clear to see there is work still to be done there defensively in the manner in which they conceded against Roma last weekend.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
