Jamie Carragher warns Antonio Conte's new Tottenham they 'have not done anything yet'

Jamie Carragher believes Tottenham's trip to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday 'is the real test of their progress' as the former player questioned whether Spurs can challenge Manchester City and Liverpool this season.

Antonio Conte has been Tottenham's saviour since taking over at the club midway through last season as he helped the club qualify for the Champions League and raised morale within a squad that looked set to be disbanded.

The former Premier League winning manager got England captain Harry Kane firing again and has worked wonders with the likes of Son Heung-min and January arrival Dejan Kulusevski.

Tottenham have invested heavily this summer with Conte forcing club chairman Daniel Levy to dig deep into his pockets as nearly £100million was spent on new arrivals.

The combination of Conte and a renewed squad of Premier League stars has made the club one of the favourites to challenge Liverpool and Manchester City this season.

Writing in his column for the Telegraph, Carragher questioned whether the London side can mount a serious title charge.

'There is still so much for Conte and Spurs to prove in these next few months.

'If they are to genuinely compete at the top end of the table, then Sunday's trip to Stamford Bridge is the time to show they are capable of doing so.

The former Chelsea manager was humbled by Thomas Tuchel's side last season as Spurs failed to score in three January losses against their cross-city rivals with the Italian saying afterwards that 'the gap is very, very large between us and Chelsea'.

That gap may have been reduced with Spurs investing heavily and Chelsea without a recognised striker following Romelu Lukaku's Inter exit and Timo Werner's reunion with RB Leipzig.

But Carragher feels that Tottenham's early-season hype has someway to go before the club can justifiably be viewed as a serious contender in the race for the Premier League title.

He also analysed Conte's record of struggling domestically when managing a team in the Champions League.

'If I was associated with Chelsea ⁠— the reigning club world champions, remember ⁠— I would treat these predictions of a London power shift with a sneer.

'The 'new' Spurs have not done anything yet, despite the hype this summer, and it speaks volumes of their struggles in recent seasons that their current aspirations are essentially to return to where they were under Mauricio Pochettino.'

A significant challenge for Spurs this year is balancing their league ambitions with their Champions League commitments.

'It is well-known that Conte thrived at Chelsea without European football. In his first campaign as manager at Stamford Bridge, in 2016/17, they won the league with 93 points.

'The following year, when there were midweek Champions League games to contend with, they finished fifth with 70 points.'