"Jose Mourinho has been brought into Tottenham for one reason"

Former England number one Paul Robinson believes Chelsea and Tottenham are both "genuine title challengers" this season as they prepare to do battle at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Spurs lead the way in the Premier League, two points clear of Chelsea in third, with champions and title favourites Liverpool between the London rivals.

Robinson, who represented Spurs between 2004 and 2008, was in the last Tottenham team that lifted silverware as they beat Chelsea in the 2008 League Cup final at Wembley and he believes the trophy drought will end under Jose Mourinho.

Speaking to presenter Scott Minto on the Racing Post's weekly YouTube football show Different League in association with Betfred, Robinson said: "Jose was brought in for one reason - to win trophies - and I genuinely believe he can do that with the team he has.

"He knows he can be part of history if he can win with Tottenham and you saw that in the week when they played Chelsea in the Carabao Cup and had Europa League qualification two days later. He picked teams to win both games. Jose is looking to keep his balls in the air for all competitions.

Robinson can't wait for the clash on Sunday and although from a betting point of view the match result looks difficult to predict, he liked the look of backing overs in the first-half corners market in the heavyweight tussle.

And he added: "Jose and Frank Lampard are doing fantastically well and I genuinely believe they are both title contenders this season.

"This will be a game between two teams who have managers who need to produce and this is a big test for Frank, who was given a lot of money and brought in some outstanding players to the club.

Although Lampard and Mourinho worked so closely together at Stamford Bridge, Robinson reckons there is no love lost between the duo.

"I have been at a couple of the games between them and I have watched them closely - there's a bit of needle on the touchline which is good to see," said Robinson.

"Frank likes to show he is no longer the pupil and stands up to Jose to prove to him he is no longer the pupil, which I am not sure Mourinho likes."

However, Robinson is concerned that his old club could be handicapped this weekend by the injury to influential centre-back Toby Alderweireld, who suffered a groin injury late on during Tottenham's 2-0 win over Manchester City last week.

Tottenham have said the Belgian will be sidelined for between two and four weeks, which means he must also sit out the north London derby against Arsenal next week and would be doubtful for the trip to Liverpool in mid-December.

"Alderweireld is huge for Spurs," said Robinson. "He is their best defender by a long way."

"The club invested in the summer transfer window in Joe Rodon, who looks to be above Davinson Sanchez in the pecking order so Mourinho clearly thinks he is the better defender - it is time for the young lad time to step up alongside Eric Dier."

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