Tottenham defender claims it is embedded in his brain to “dislike Chelsea”

Tottenham winger Ryan Sessegnon claims Chelsea hatred in the build-up to the London Derby

Tottenham Hotspur’s English winger Ryan Sessegnon is in fine form entering the derby against Chelsea this Sunday. The 22-year-old was among the scorers in a 4-1 win against Southampton last week. Speaking at The Summer of Spurs (h/t Daily Star), he said he was “looking forward to the opportunity” of matching up against his old friend Reece James.

Sessegnon said, it was “embedded in his brain” to hate Chelsea. It makes sense because he rose up the ranks at Fulham, the Blues’ direct rivals. Growing up playing at Craven Cottage, which is less than two miles away from Stamford Bridge, a dislike for the Blues comes naturally to any player coming up the ranks there.

Sessegnon made the move from Fulham to Spurs in 2019, for a fee worth £25m. He made a loan switch to Bundesliga side TSG Hoffenheim in October 2020, but moved back to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after eight months. Speaking about his loathe of Chelsea, he emphasized how distinctive this game would be for the winger.

“Coming through at Fulham, it’s obviously embedded in your brain to dislike Chelsea – so this game is extra special for me”

Sessegnon vs Reece James

With Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel pretty similar in their formations of 3-5-2, the wingbacks become crucial. This gives rise to a good duel between in-form Sessegnon and his close friend on the other half, Reece James.

The Chelsea academy graduate has crossed paths with Sessegnon on multiple occasions, but their career trajectory is quite different. The Cobham boy has gone on to become a European winner with Chelsea, meanwhile the Fulham star is still finding his feet under Conte at Tottenham.

We’re good mates. We probably won’t talk before but maybe after. We have close mutual friends. I know some of the Chelsea players – and we have other friends who aren’t footballers.”

Sessegnon apparently knows James’ weakness but didn’t let much out. “I wont say much now”, he said. Thomas Tuchel has had the better of Tottenham in the recent past, but Conte’s new acquisitions would want to make a point. Spurs would hope to get rid of the fact that they have won just one game at the Bridge in over 32 years.

With a fiery game expected come this Sunday, both teams will come out all guns blazing given it’s the London Derby. Fans have huge expectations of this game as it is the first time this season that two teams from the “big-six” will compete against each other.

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Both teams are coming off good starts in the first gameweek and would hope to build on to compete for the league title and much more silverware this season.