Henry and Carragher left in stitches after Dempsey’s bold prediction

Guardiola: Haaland cannot win Champions League for Man City on his own

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Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher could not stop themselves from bursting into fits of laughter after Clint Dempsey picked Tottenham as the dark horses to win this season’s Champions League on Tuesday night. The north Londoners will make their long-awaited return to Europe’s most prestigious club competition against Marseille on Wednesday and will be hoping to get off to a winning start in front of their own supporters.

Antonio Conte will be desperate to lead Tottenham into the Champions League knockout stages at the very least this season after bringing in a number of exciting new signings to bolster his ranks in the summer transfer window. Dempsey seemingly believes that his former club may even go all the way to lifting the iconic trophy if everything falls into place, with the 39-year-old having suggested that it would be foolish to write them off before they have even played their first game.

“I’ll do something different and pick a dark horse, I’m not biased at all but maybe Tottenham,” said Dempsey in his role as a pundit on Paramount when quizzed on which clubs are well-placed to taste European glory, prompting a wave of laughter from fellow analysts Henry and Carragher.

“I think they can get it done, Conte is a winner. They don’t necessarily have a great record in the Champions League but hey, I think it’s them. They’re looking like they’ve gone from strength to strength, they’ve done well in the transfer window.”

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Tottenham have failed to win a single major trophy since 2008 and would not be the popular choice to lift the Champions League trophy at the end of the campaign, with the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid widely considered to be among the favourites as things stand. However, it remains to be seen whether Conte will be able to prove Dempsey right by leading his side to a shock European triumph once all is said and done.

Henry, meanwhile, gave his backing to City when asked if Pep Guardiola’s men finally have what it takes to end their Champions League hoodoo by claiming the top prize at the very next time of asking.

“I think it’s about time they win it,” explained the Arsenal legend. “And again, I want Pep to validate what he’s doing at City, I’m repeating myself every year.

“But having [Erling] Haaland, for me, makes it even more pressure for them to perform. After that, Jamie said it, you can talk about a lot of teams, the usual suspects will be there.

“What I want to see this year is I can see the Italian league growing, with players going there, teams are getting better. Can they get better in the Champions League?”

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