Tottenham Hotspur 'face 20,000 empty seats for Chelsea clash'

Tottenham Hotspur's first Premier League match at their temporary Wembley home will reportedly be played in front of up to 20,000 empty seats due to restrictions imposed by the Metropolitan Police and Brent council.

Spurs welcome Chelsea to the national stadium on Sunday afternoon for the first of 19 top-flight games to be staged at the venue this season while their new ground is being built.

The Times reports that 70,000 tickets have so far been shifted, 3,000 of which have gone to Chelsea fans, but a large section of the upper tier has been closed off to prevent them from selling out.

Tottenham were allowed to play at full capacity during their Champions League campaign at Wembley last season, with 85,512 attending the group-stage defeat to Bayer Leverkusen - a record for an English club.

Following talks between the Met Police and Brent council, however, it has been decided that the first London derby of the season will be played in front of a reduced capacity.