Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur will face off against each other this weekend, with Frank Lampard coming up against Jose Mourinho for the first time in the Premier League.
Lampard will come up against Mourinho in the Premier League for the first time in his managerial career on Sunday, when his Chelsea side travel to Tottenham in what is a crucial London derby.
Lampard knows the Portuguese boss well, having played under him for a sizeable chunk of his career.
And although Mourinho’s appointment seems to have made Spurs stronger, Lampard is pleased to see his former manager back in work.
“He’s a man for a big club. It’s massively interesting for the Premier League,” the Chelsea boss said. “His personality and record is something that needs to be in top level football. Having him back is going to mix it right up.”
Lampard has also now predicted that Tottenham will be right up there challenging for a top four place at the end of the season, having put Mourinho in charge.
“We know the record Jose has as a winning manager. He’s won wherever he’s been,” he added.
“He’s come into a club who were tipped to be in the title race this year, had a difficult start, but they still have those players.
“With the freshness of a Mourinho they’re going to be challengers for, of course, top four.”
When Mourinho took over from Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham, the Lilywhites were 12 points behind the top four.
However, Spurs will now go ahead of Chelsea and into the Champions League qualification spots if they can win at the weekend, as they have cut the gap down so significantly in a very short period of time.
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