Tottenham: Comparision With Last Season After 23 Matches
By Logan Holmes
At the end of each month I do a comparison on how Tottenham are doing this year compared with last season. In 2012-13, after 23 matches Spurs were 4th in the Premier League with 41 points, this season they are one place worse off but have accumulated an additional 2 points.
“Aw, come on lads, let me in” [Photo: Alan Hill]Another heavy home defeat last Wednesday evening against Manchester City has left us all rather disillusioned but despite that Tottenham are still within striking distance of a Champions League place and are actually better off, points wise, after the same number of games compared with last season.
2012-13 P 23 W 12 D 5 L 6 Goals For 40 Ag 28 Pts 41 Pos. 4th
2013-14 P 23 W 13 D 4 L 6 Goals For 30 Ag 31 Pts 43 Pos 5th
The past month has seen Tottenham move up two places in their League standing as at the end of December, after 19 games, they had slipped to 7th. The past weeks have seen the clubs ahead of Spurs open up a gap at the top of the Premier League. Spurs are now 10 points behind Manchester City who went to the top of the League after their win at White Hart Lane. Arsenal are 9 points ahead with Chelsea 7 points away in 3rd place. Liverpool have a three point lead over Spurs who have a one point advantage over Everton and three over Manchester United. Once again, Tottenham’s inferior goal difference weakens their position.
Comparison with 2012-13 Fixtures
When looking at the corresponding games from last season, at the end of December, the team had still won more points than they achieved in 2012-13, although the difference was down to +1. The four games in January brought 9 points from three wins over Manchester United at Old Trafford, Crystal Palace at home and away to Swansea City with the defeat by City at home. Last year those four games brought also brought 9 points with the Palace result compared to the game against Wigan at White Hart Lane which ended in a one goal defeat last season. The win over Palace balances out the defeat by City in the overall comparison so Tottenham continue to be one point better off than at a similar point in season 2012-13.
Crystal Palace* (a) + 2
Swansea (h) –
Arsenal (a) –
Norwich City (h) + 2
Cardiff City* (a) + 2
Chelsea (h) +1
West Ham United (h) -3
Aston Villa (a) –
Hull City* (h) –
Everton (a) +1
Newcastle United (h) -3
Manchester City (a) –
Manchester United (h) –
Fulham (a) –
Sunderland (a) –
Liverpool (h) -3
Southampton (a) –
WBA (h) –
Stoke (h) +2
Manchester United (a) –
Crystal Palace* (h) +3
Swansea City (a) –
Manchester City (h) -3
* Palace, Cardiff and Hull results are compared with the relegated teams – Wigan, QPR and Reading
February, 2014
This month Spurs have 4 League matches, starting at Hull City this afternoon. They then play Everton at White Hart Lane before a mid-week trip to Newcastle followed by a game at Norwich at the end of the month. In those four corresponding games last season Spurs took 5 points with only one win, at Reading, which is the comparable fixture for the game against Hull. They drew with Everton and Norwich and lost at Newcastle on the opening day of the season in Andre Villas-Boas’ first match in charge. Those games give an opportunity for Tim Sherwood and the team to improve on last season. The games and last season’s results are recorded below:
Hull City* (a) Won 3 – 1
Everton (h) Drew 2 – 2
Newcastle United (a) Lost 1 – 2
Norwich City (a) Drew 1 – 1
After the defeat to City, Spurs need a win today to lift the morale of the team and supporters and to keep in touch with the top four clubs. Now that the transfer window has closed, a win is essential to prove Sherwood was correct in his assessment and insistence that the current squad was good enough to take us through to the end of the season. A defeat at Hull and his judgement will be immediately called into question. It is also an opportunity to build on their record of 5 successive away wins in the Premier League.