Saturday 28 November 2015 14:04, UK
Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino expects Chelsea to make a strong recovery after their nightmare start to the Premier League season.
The Blues will arrive at White Hart Lane on Sunday 10 points behind their London rivals, who were fifth in the table ahead of this weekend's fixtures with the champions down in 15th.
However, Pochettino is refusing to write them off and he is also concerned about his side's lack of preparation time for the game following their Europa League match in Azerbaijan on Thursday.
"Chelsea have very good players and a great manager," said Pochettino. "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 and Pochettino reckons that result gave his side additional belief.
"That match was very special," said Pochettino. "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."
