"They’ll be well prepared" - Mark Lawrenson predicts surprise scoreline for Brentford vs Tottenham 

The Premier League will resume on Boxing Day after its midseason break, with Brentford hosting Tottenham Hotspur at the Gtech Community Stadium. Sports pundit Mark Lawrenson has predicted a surprise 1-1 draw.

Spurs are the favourites on paper but their form hasn't been promising lately. Antonio Conte's men have lost three of their last five league games after tasting defeat just once in their opening ten.

The Bees, meanwhile, have won just once in their last five top-flight games, but that victory came at the home of champions Manchester City, who succumbed to a late 2-1 defeat.

However, Lawrenson feels that returning from a six-week break would be like restarting the season. Given that Brentford didn't have many players at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, they could be fit enough to hold Antonio Conte's side. In his predictions for Paddy Power, Lawrenson wrote:

"All eyes will be on Harry Kane, won’t they? Brentford only had a handful of players away at the World Cup, so they’ll be well prepared. I’m going to do for a 1-1 Draw in this; the early kick offs are always a bit drab. Brentford had a great result against Manchester City last time, but that’s old news now. It’s almost like starting a new season."

Tottenham will be without the injured duo of Richarlison and Rodrigo Bentancur, while Cristian Romero, who was involved in the World Cup final last Sunday, is absent from the squad.

Hugo Lloris was in action last weekend against Argentina but has returned to the squad. However, Conte will be cautious against throwing him in the deep end and could keep the Frenchman on the bench instead.

In a huge boost for Tottenham, though, the prolific attacking duo of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min could lead the line once more, having returned from their Qatar sojourn a while back. Ryan Sessegnon, meanwhile, is doubtful for the visitors.

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Tottenham must continue to pick up points before big games next year

Tottenham Hotspur play Brentford, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, ranked 10th, 12th and 11th in the league, in their next three games. So they must be aiming for nothing less than three points in each outing.

That's because from mid-January, Spurs will have a series of big games coming one after the other. They have fixtures to Arsenal, Manchester City (twice in two weeks), Leicester City, West Ham and Chelsea, all coming thick and fast.

Interspersed between them are two daunting two-legged UEFA Champions League last-16 fixtures against AC Milan. All that could have a toll on the players and disrupt the team's momentum.