Which Competition Should Tottenham Prioritize More?

Tottenham have played well domestically and in Europe.

Once Tottenham returns from their international break, they will host Liverpool (10th: 3W-3D-2L, 12 points) in what will be a huge match for both clubs. For Liverpool, the most obvious reason is Jürgen Klopp’s Premier League debut when his side travels to face Tottenham on October 17th.

For Mauricio Pochettino, he will be looking to continue Tottenham’s form in the Premier League (8th: 3W-4D-1L, 13 points) where his team has gone undefeated in the last seven games. Only losing once which happened in the season opener. Through two months there have been eight games played thus far in the 38-game season. A win for Tottenham in the Premier League will vault the team into 4th place behind Manchester United. Now while that won’t be the final standings at the end of Matchday 9, Spurs have a chance to sit inside the top five at the very least assuming they beat Liverpool.

Five days after hosting Liverpool on October 17th, Tottenham will have a home game versus R.S.C. Anderlecht on October 22nd, just five days later in the Europa League. If Spurs win and/or draw versus Anderlecht this should give Mauricio Pochettino an incentive to rest his starters to close out the group stage and focus more on the Premier League, to get more points and close in on a Champions League spot once the season is over in May.

View image | gettyimages.com

With Spurs doing well domestically, it’s important to continue improving that run in the Premiership. There’s a chance that it could hurt Tottenham’s chances of advancing further in the Europa League by virtue of prioritizing the Premier League instead, but that’s a risk that Mauricio Pochettino should make right now.

Even if European competitions are at a higher status than domestic competitions and the Europa League is nothing to scoff at after what Sevilla showed last season, by winning the Europa League last season and qualifying for this year’s Champions League automatically. There is a great sense of optimism this year in the Premier League for Tottenham to finish higher up the table and it starts with two reasons.

More from Tottenham News

First, for the time being, Chelsea is currently in disarray which opens the door for other teams to take up a spot in the top four. The same thing can be said with Liverpool now that Brendan Rodgers has been sacked.

While Jürgen Klopp can help propel the Reds to a top four finish, it’ll take a while for the German coach to figure things out and players away on international duty, unless he can get the team running instantly. Both Liverpool and Chelsea who continuously fight for a top four finish each season, could realistically finish outside the top four opening the door for other clubs to sneak in, and end their season higher than they normally would.

Secondly, as stated above, Tottenham’s form in the Premier League has been good. Undefeated in the last seven games, a winning run in the Premier League during September helped a lot. While October involved a draw against a tough Swansea side, in which Spurs should have actually lost in all honesty. Tottenham have players who are playing at a high level and with players who could be returning from injury, they could battle their way up the league table.

Additionally, outside of European competition and getting knocked out of the League Cup, Tottenham still have one more tournament that they’re in and that’s the FA Cup. The FA Cup while more prestigious than the League Cup, is still a domestic competition in the end. Mauricio Pochettino wouldn’t necessarily throw out a fully rotated starting eleven once the FA Cup began. But it wouldn’t be bad to get knocked out early in order to focus on two competitions that Tottenham could get really far in right now: the Premier League and the Europa League.

Next: Lamela and Dembélé Vie for the Same Spot at Tottenham

More from Hotspur HQ

Home/Tottenham News