Is my head gasket blown on ford puma?

I have a 1999 ford puma 1.7 and all was fine until yesterday when i tried to pull away and had very little power and the car was making a very loud sound the exhaust was burbling and it kept stalling... A friend suggested getting a head gasket kit and getting it fitted but don't want to throw money at the car if this is not the problem. Many thanks in advance for any helpful info.