Antonio Conte insists Tottenham travel to Chelsea with ambition despite their poor past form at Stamford Bridge but admits it is a “good surprise” to have seemingly closed the gap on their rivals so quickly.
Spurs have tasted victory at the home of the Blues on just one occasion since the Premier League started in 1992 and their overall record against the west London outfit is also extremely poor.
Chelsea have won the last five meetings and handed out three humbling defeats to Tottenham in January, which left Conte to reflect on the distance between his current charges and his old team.
The Italian has made huge progress at Spurs in the ensuing months, with a top-four finish achieved and several new signings improving squad depth while Chelsea are in a transitional period after long-term owner Roman Abramovich departed in May alongside numerous key personnel.
It adds to the intrigue before Sunday’s clash and Conte is confident a different Tottenham will show up.
“Honestly last season it was the period when I was really frustrated because for me it was not normal to lose three games in a row in only two weeks against the same team,” he said.
“My players tried to give everything but for injuries and a lot of situations, we had only been working together for two months, it was very difficult to reach a good result against Chelsea.
“Now on Sunday the situation is different. We worked for eight months together, we improved the team because we finished in the top four and to do that wasn’t easy but we showed we deserved it.
“The belief now is different. We don’t have the injuries we did last season, but for sure we are going to play against a top team. We want to try to show that we are going in the right way to face this type of team with ambition, not only to fight, but with ambition. This will be very important.”
Six signings this summer has added to the overall feeling Tottenham have a squad capable of upsetting the duopoly of Manchester City and Liverpool.
Tottenham v Southampton player ratings
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TOTTENHAM RATINGS: Hugo Lloris – 6 The Spurs skipper was seldom involved in play, bar one good stop from Aribo. Marshalled his defence well for the majority of the game, ensuring precious little reparatory involvement. Unsighted and blameless for Ward-Prowse’s clinical opener for Saints. Action Images -
Emerson Royal – 7 Might have done better to prevent Djenepo’s cross in the build-up to Ward-Prowse’s opener, but recovered from that early setback to reassert himself defensively and bomb forward at every opportunity. Assisted Salisu’s poor own-goal. AFP -
Cristian Romero – 7 The Uruguayan dealt with everything that came his way, cutting a dominant figure in the air and on the deck against a Southampton side made to look very lightweight in attack. Getty -
Eric Dier – 7 His headline act was the neatly-glanced header which put Spurs in the lead for the first time, but the veteran defender’s main contribution was a stellar organisational shift which kept Saints at arm’s length. EPA -
Ben Davies 8 – No sign of the ankle issues which had limited his involvement in pre-season. Aggressive throughout, both defensively and in his passing intention, and rose well to the summer arrival of Clement Lenglet. EPA -
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 7 A key figure in helping Spurs establish a foothold in the game after their early setback. Showcased his fine range of passing and was constantly one step ahead of his visiting counterparts. EPA -
Rodrigo Bentancur – 8 A class act. Grew in presence as the game wore on and was a major factor in Spurs dominating the midfield battle. Rare to see a Saints player get anywhere near him. Booked and duly substituted as a precaution. Getty -
Ryan Sessegnon – 8 Made a superb run to bullet home Spurs’ leveller with a close-range header, had another goal disallowed for offside and never stopped sprinting. Substituted midway through the second period for safety reasons, after picking up a first-half booking. Getty -
Dejan Kulusevski – 9 Carried on his fine form since arriving in January, providing a constant menace for Saints and highlighting his display with an unplayable assist for Sessegnon’s equaliser, then a classy second-half finish to round-off the scoring. EPA -
Harry Kane – 7 After a sharp pre-season, Kane was unexpectedly quiet. For once, the headlines went to those around him and his frustration was on show late in the first period when he berated Son for spurning a chance to tee up a simple third. Getty -
Son Heung-min – 7 Shot straight at Bazunu during a rusty start, but recovered quickly by slinging in a brilliant cross for Dier’s header. Not the outstanding display of his Spurs career to date, but played his part in an incisive collective performance. EPA -
SUBS: Ivan Perisic (Ryan Sessegnon, 66) – 7 Didn’t take long to show his class. Sharp, lively and involved – looks a very astute summer signing. AFP -
Lucas Moura (Dejan Kulusevski, 86) Virtually no time at all to have an impact. EPA -
Yves Bissouma (Rodrigo Bentancur, 86) A fleeting debut, but still found time to foul Lavia and pick up a booking. EPA -
Clement Lenglet (Ben Davies, 86) Came on for his competitive Spurs bow, having watched Davies lay down a gauntlet. EPA -
Matt Doherty (Emerson Royal, 87) Uninvolved in his brief cameo, with the outcome already long-assured. PA -
SOUTHAMPTON RATINGS: Gavin Bazunu – 6 Got the nod for his debut ahead of Alex McCarthy after an impressive pre-season campaign. Blameless for Spurs’ goals, all scored from close-range, and did well to recover mentally and produce sharp stops from Kane and Son. EPA -
Kyle Walker-Peters – 6 Rendered helpless for Sessegnon’s equaliser by Kulusevski’s cross. Took a clattering from Sessegnon shortly after the goal and was finding his way back into the game when Dier scored. Generally tidy and energetic, but will rue losing his men for both first-half goals. Getty -
Yan Valery – 5 Up and down, but mainly the latter. Targeted by Spurs’ press and was only spared a costly concession of possession when Son subsequently blazed off-target. Hooked at half-time as Hasenhuttl sought to find a way back into the match. Getty -
Jan Bednarek – 5 Looked nervy early on, making life tricky for Bazunu with one particularly errant pass, and was found wanting for both position and reaction when Dier exploited lax marking to glance in Spurs’ second. An afternoon to forget. PA -
Mohammed Salisu – 5 Endured a nightmarish moment on the hour mark to all-but seal the points for the hosts, as he haphazardly turned Royal’s cross past Bazunu. The low-point in a beleaguered 90 minutes. AP -
Moussa Djenepo – 5 Did well to fashion Ward-Prowse’s early volley to break the deadlock, but looked uncomfortable all afternoon in a defensive capacity. Left chasing shadows by Kulusevski at times. Getty -
Romeo Lavia –7 Easily Saints’ stand-out player on his Premier League debut. The teenager was unflappable throughout, showing elite mentality, innate positional sense and a brilliant passing repertoire. Very promising. PA -
James Ward-Prowse – 6 Deployed in a more advanced role in Hasenhuttl’s new formation and the early signs were promising. Capped a lively all-round display with a brilliantly-taken opener for the visitors, but found himself and his fellow midfielders overrun thereafter. AP -
Oriol Romeu – 5 The Spaniard was found wanting for pace on more than one occasion as Spurs developed their dominance and upped the tempo after conceding. Looked more comfortable after the break when playing a deeper role, but was still replaced with 15 minutes to go. Reuters -
Joe Aribo – 6 Though a midfielder by trade, battled gamely in a forward position, constantly finding clever pockets of space and posing questions for the home defence. His only real chance in front of goal was thwarted by Lloris in the second half. PA -
Adam Armstrong – 5 A willing runner throughout the first period, but was unable to offer a meaningful focal point as Saints failed to build on an early advantage. Substituted at half-time. EPA -
SUBS: Jack Stephens (Yan Valery, half-time) – 5 Came on at the break but was unable to alter the flow of the game, with Saints’ defence creaking after Salisu’s killer own-goal. PA -
Stuart Armstrong (Adam Armstrong, half-time) – 6 Looked lively and put himself about in an advanced role, but was unable to provide the attacking sharpness required. Getty -
Romain Perraud (Moussa Djenepo, 72) Had 20 minutes but, despite willing running and one off-target shot, the game was already decided. Ibrahima Diallo (Oriol Romeu, 75) Had no say in the outcome of the game and saw a late effort blocked. PA
January arrivals Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski were the first pieces of the puzzle put together by Conte – with the help of sporting director Fabio Paratici – and progress has been tangible since March.
He added: “For sure this is a really good surprise, to see the change of the team in such a short time. It’s positive, positive for me and I can be surprised for the short time that we needed to do this.
“Now there is the more difficult part, because to have a good improvement quickly can happen but when you stay on one level, to have another step and another step becomes more difficult.
“It’s because you have to continue to work, don’t make mistakes about the players – signing the players – and this is really, really important because now is not the time for Tottenham to make mistakes in the transfer market.
“I know very well I can’t have everything quickly because it would be foolish to ask for a lot of players and to spend a lot of money. I think we are doing the right things with common sense, not to spend an amount of money for many players, also because this is not the policy of the club, so I understand this.
“You have to go in the right way, doing the right things and I think we are doing this.”
Despite Spurs’ fine work off the pitch, much of their hopes on Sunday lay at the feet of star duo Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, fresh from their Ballon d’Or nominations.
The attacking pair struck 40 times between them in the top flight last season and have played a big role in Tottenham being the leading league scorers of 2022 with 51 goals.
“The stats speak very clearly and in every team that I trained, we were always the first or the second-best attacking team,” Conte insisted.
“My football is attacking football. Our idea is to score one more goal than the other, for sure, but I know that to win something important, to lift trophies, you need to have a good balance offensively and defensively.”
