Tottenham v Chelsea lineups and first thoughts

Tottenham welcome Chelsea to their new temporary home at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, and it feels like a match that could define the entire season.

A win over Newcastle last week set the right tone, but it a home match against Chelsea was always going to be more important to Tottenham.

The same could be said for Chelsea, though they now face the added pressure of trying to make right all the errors made in their 3-2 home loss to Burnley last Saturday.

Wembley Stadium, then, feels the appropriate setting for a massive contest for both sides.

To say the move from White Hart Lane has caused some anxiety around Tottenham would be an understatement. Sunday’s match will go some way to either deepening or dismissing those worries.

To better ensure the latter scenario, Mauricio Pochettino has named the strongest squad available to him.

This seems to be a return to the 3-4-2-1 formation that worked so well for Spurs last season, especially in their 2-0 win over Chelsea in January.

Kieran Trippier is perhaps the most notable inclusion. The right wing-back suffered an injury in the final week of preseason and missed the opening match against Newcastle as a result. Though Kyle Walker-Peters performed well in his stead, Trippier’s experience will be better suited for a match against Chelsea.

Tottenham will also welcome back Victor Wanyama, who will line up next to Mousa Dembélé in the center of the pitch. This was a brutally efficient duo for Spurs last season, and after the latter’s performance last week that seems set to continue.

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The real action will come from the top three players in the formation. Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen will be anxious to exploit the enforced rotation in Chelsea’s defense after Gary Cahill’s red card last week.

As we covered briefly in our opposition preview on Saturday, expect this game to be a tug-of-war between the two sides.

Tottenham will want to keep things as compact as possible. Their pressing game depends heavily on denying the opposition space while leaving plenty of it for themselves when in transition.

Wembley’s larger pitch will make this more difficult than it was at White Hart Lane, but with a full summer of training based around its increased dimensions this might not be the problem it seem to be.

Chelsea, meanwhile, will use all the pace and passing range at their disposal to stretch the field of play as wide and long as possible. Antonio Conte is forced to use a significantly depleted squad, but he’s still got a lot of talent to work with.

Cahill and Cesc Fabregas are out, but Tiémoué Bakayoko will make his debut in the center of the pitch. The former Monaco man might take time to adjust to the Premier League, but he is an immense talent and should form a strong heart to the team along with N’Golo Kanté.

Chelsea’s ability to stretch and bend play will fall to Willian, Victor Moses and Álvaro Morata. The Spanish striker scored in his debut last week and will be dead set on sustaining that momentum at Wembley.

Next: How important is Tottenham's effort to sign Paulo Gazzaniga?

Check back here after the match for a full report, the man of match and full player ratings.