London Derby: A test of character for the Premier League champions.

(Baonghean.vn) - CoachConte and his players arrived at Wembley, their home stadium.Tottenham played the London derby with a depleted midfield squad.For two consecutive seasons, the reigning English champions have had a poor start to the season and finished outside the European Cup qualification spots. This is the moment to test the champions' mettle.Premier League?

Mauricio Pochettino remains undefeated.

Under manager Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham have gone 13 London derbies unbeaten, winning 9 and drawing 4. The Tottenham squad is now quite balanced, and they are no longer dependent on a single superstar like Gareth Bale.

Seeing Ben Davies and Danny Rose sharing the left-back position reveals the depth and quality of the White Hart Lane squad. Besides the young, talented, and explosive Harry Kane and Dele Alli, Spurs also have the dynamic central midfielders Mousa Dembele, Eric Dier, Christian Eriksen, and Erik Lamela. In defense, with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and full-backs Kieran Trippier, Toby Alderweireld, and Danny Rose, no one can doubt the strength of the Spurs.

But before the match against Newcastle, many Tottenham players and fans were still worried seeing Premier League giants spending heavily to bring in "big-name" signings. Conversely, Spurs parted ways with four players – Kyle Walker (Man City), Nabil Bentaleb (Schalke), Clinton N'Jie (Marseille), and Federico Fazio (Roma) – without signing any new players.

Defender Davinson Sanchez - Tottenham's most expensive signing in history. Photo: Internet

Immediately after the opening match, it seems that chairman Daniel Levy was obsessed with the philosophy "Failure to change will lead to decline," as teams that spent heavily achieved positive results. The most prominent examples are Manchester United and Manchester City – teams that secured convincing victories in the first round. Therefore, after their initial £25 million offer was quickly rejected, Tottenham submitted a second offer to sign Manchester United striker Anthony Martial. Spurs will increase their bid for the 21-year-old to £42 million.

SkySport also revealed that Tottenham's £40 million offer for defender Davinson Sanchez has been accepted by Ajax Amsterdam. Accordingly, in the next few days, the Colombian center-back will travel to London for a medical examination and to sign the contract. Davinson Sanchez will become Tottenham's most expensive signing in history. This record was previously held by Moussa Sissoko, who joined White Hart Lane last summer for £31 million.

Will the champion be confident?

Losing the opening match against Burnley not only eroded the confidence of the reigning champions Chelsea, but Conte also lost two key players, Cahill and Fabregas, due to red cards. Prior to that, Matic and Zouma had already left Stamford Bridge, key striker Costa publicly criticized Conte and refused to play, and new signing Bakayoko was recovering from injury.

The tense atmosphere at Stamford Bridge only eased when news broke that Eden Hazard had returned to training with his teammates and could feature in the match against Tottenham. This was coupled with the fact that new signing Alvaro Morata, after coming on as a substitute in the match against Burnley, scored a goal and has integrated quite well.

Pedro, who missed the defeat to Burnley due to a one-match suspension after receiving a red card in the Super Cup match against Arsenal, has also recovered from his ankle injury and is available to play.

Coach Antonio Conte is facing a major headache due to a shortage of players. Photo: Internet

Unfortunately for Conte, the Blues' opponent is the reigning runner-up, Tottenham, who are in stable form. Last year, at White Hart Lane, it was Spurs who ended Chelsea's 13-match winning streak in the Premier League, which had started with a 0-3 defeat against another London team, Arsenal, at the end of September 2016.

In the previous round, Dele Alli scored, making a significant contribution to Tottenham's victory against Newcastle last weekend. Harry Kane, although not scoring in his first game, is in excellent form and promises to be a constant threat to Courtois' goal. Without captain Cahill, who will stop Harry Kane and Dele Alli? This is a question that London fans find very difficult to answer. More than anyone, they understand that for the past two consecutive seasons, the reigning champions have had poor starts and finished outside the European qualification spots.

Will Dele Alli overshadow Chelsea's new signing Alvaro Morata? Photo: Internet

Despite the squad shortage, Conte will most likely remain loyal to the 3-4-3 formation. It's highly probable that, to contain Dele Alli, the home team's highly mobile midfielder, Conte will push center-back David Luiz up to play in central midfield, similar to what Rafael Benitez did when he managed The Blues.

Last year, Alli scored a brace with headers in the recent fiery clash against Chelsea, ending The Blues' 13-match winning streak. Meanwhile, even without having time to strengthen his squad, Pochettino still cherishes the pressing style of play and the players' ability to control the ball, because, in his opinion, that is the key to victory.

An Thanh