EVEN by Tottenham's low standards against Chelsea, last season's meetings between the clubs were particularly dispiriting.
Spurs lost all four matches without scoring, and even in the three games under Antonio Conte in January, they barely laid a glove on their rivals.
After the first of those defeats, a 2-0 reverse in the League Cup semi-final, first leg, at Stamford Bridge, a despondent Conte described the level of his squad as "in the middle" and hinted, not for the last time, that the scale of the rebuild at Spurs may be beyond him.
But his side improved in the second half of the season and, by March 20, after a win over West Ham, Conte was itching for another crack at his former club. "I would like to have another chance to see our level," Conte said, after a fourth win in five League games. "I'm sure now our level has improved a lot and now I'm sure that Chelsea could fight much more to win the game against us than before."
This Sunday, back at the Bridge, Conte will get that chance to measure his side against Chelsea again, in what feels like an early test of Spurs' ambitions to be London's top club and the most likely challengers to Manchester City and Liverpool this season.
A year ago, it was Chelsea who appeared most likely to break up that duopoly, but the Blues are now a club in transition, and this weekend's game should also serve as a barometer of their own prospects.
Denne historien er fra August 12, 2022-utgaven av Evening Standard.
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Denne historien er fra August 12, 2022-utgaven av Evening Standard.
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