View: De Zerbi to prove Sutton wrong as Tottenham aim to extend impressive Sunderland run

Chris Sutton has questioned the “odd” long-term appointment of Roberto De Zerbi, while predicting an opening loss for the new Tottenham Hotspur boss at Sunderland.

Tottenham originally wanted to appoint De Zerbi in the summer but after parting company with Igor Tudor, amid an increasingly desperate situation in the Premier League relegation battle, Spurs signed the Italian on a five-year deal.

This will be the 46-year-old’s ninth managerial appointment in the space of less than 13 years, which has led ex-Celtic man Sutton to scratch his head over the length of his Tottenham contract.

In the immediate term, Tottenham are preparing to face European hopefuls Sunderland on Sunday, in the former Brighton boss’ first game in charge.

Tottenham are in dire need of a win at the Stadium of Light but Sutton thinks that will have to wait for another day.

Chris Sutton references Lewis Dunk’s Roberto De Zerbi warning

De Zerbi is regarded as one of Brighton’s greatest ever managers after leading them to Europe for the first time in the club’s history.

However, when he replaced Graham Potter a couple of months into the 2022-23 season, it took time for his Brighton players to get to grips with his 4-2-3-1 formation and possession-based approach.

Sutton believes that a Tottenham team under De Zerbi – who failed to win any of his opening five games at Brighton – will be open and as a result, he forecasted a 1-0 home win for Sunderland.

He said in his BBC Sport predictions column: “What is Roberto de Zerbi going to do with Tottenham and how will he set them up? I’ve read about when he went in at Brighton and how Lewis Dunk says it took the Seagulls players a while to get up to speed, external and adapt to his demands.

“The whole situation is just odd, with De Zerbi securing a five-year contract despite only hanging around for more than two years at one of his previous eight clubs. Good luck to him, but this is a difficult place for him to start.

“Sunderland’s form at the Stadium of Light has dipped a bit since they lost their unbeaten home record against Liverpool in February, but the Black Cats will be buoyant after beating Newcastle last time out.

“If Spurs are going to play the type of football we associate with De Zerbi, they will be open and expansive, and take risks – but will they have the confidence to do that?

“Sunderland are the team that come into this game with belief. They’ve had a brilliant season and their incentive now must be to stay above Newcastle in the table.”

Tottenham suffer yet another injury blow

Tottenham have had a wretched time with injuries this season.

Key players such as James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski have not kicked a ball in anger this campaign, while Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, and Lucas Bergvall have had lengthy spells on the sidelines.

And just when De Zerbi was hoping to call upon some of these players soon, Tottenham winger Kudus has suffered a fresh injury setback.

De Zerbi already has a huge task on his hands to keep Tottenham up, with the north London team just one point and one place above the bottom three.

And without Kudus, his task got even harder. However, this has been a kind fixture to them over the years.

Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 15 Premier League games against Sunderland (10 wins and five draws) since a 3-1 loss in April 2010.

However, Tottenham remain winless in 13 Premier League games (five draws and eight losses). Only once in their league history have they had a longer run without victory, going 16 matches from December 1934 to April 1935.

The post View: De Zerbi to prove Sutton wrong as Tottenham aim to extend impressive Sunderland run appeared first on Tottenham Hotspur News.