Tottenham: Spurs Face Winnable Stretch Following Break
By Aaron Coe
The international breaks create different periods within a football season, with the first break ongoing, as Tottenham Hotspur return, they have a winnable stretch of games.
Tottenham Hotspur were extremely busy to start the season, having already played eight games over the first month across three competitions. As the calendar moves forward and the October/November stretch between international breaks comes, Spurs have seven games to play, all of which they can and should win in both the Premier League and Europa League Group Stages.
Tottenham’s Premier League Ties
Upon the return from the international break, Tottenham will have four matches in the Premier League before the next break begins Monday November 9. Those four matches are all quite winnable for Spurs, as they face West Ham and Brighton and Hove Albion at home and Burnley and West Bromwich Albion on the road.
Combined those teams have managed 10 total points across 15 Premier League matches this season. Note Burnley did not play in week 1 as they were scheduled to face United, who were given the week off by the FA for their European efforts last season. Three of those 15 matches have been victories, with West Ham winning two of the three and Brighton winning once.
West Ham has shown the ability to topple a top half side, as they have beaten Leicester City and Wolverhampton by a combined 7-0 score line this season, after dropping their opening two matches to Newcastle (0-2) and Arsenal (2-1). Add in a couple League Cup triumphs over Charlton Athletic and Hull City as well as a loss in the FA Cup to West Brom and what you have is an up and down team capable of beating anyone, but also losing to anyone. As a London Derby we should expect a tough match, but it is one Spurs are very capable of winning.
Brighton have had a tough start to the season, dropping a heartbreaker to Manchester United on a penalty kick after the final whistle and dropping matches to Everton and Chelsea by a combined 7 to 3 score line. The gulls have managed a victory over Newcastle and beat Spurs last season, so Tottenham cannot overlook this side.
Burnley have lost all three of their matches this season being outscored 7 to 1 in those matches. However, they do get to face West Brom before hosting Spurs, so one could easily conceive of Burnley having their first win and some growing confidence prior to the Tottenham match. West Bromwich have likewise had a tough start to their year, being knocked out of the FA Cup, League Cup, and managing only 1 point from four Premier League matches.
The one real positive for West Brom would be the 3-3 draw with Chelsea for their lone point. However, when you consider West Brom was up 3-0 in the match, even that point does not seem so great. Ultimately, Tottenham are facing four teams in league they should beat to position themselves well for the tough schedule that comes in later November and into December.
Spurs in Europa League
While Tottenham play 4 matches over 21 days in the Premier League, Spurs will also play their first 3 Group Stage matches over before the next break. Spurs host LASK on Thursday September 22, then travel to Belgium to face Royal Antwerp the following week on the 29th, and then are on to Bulgaria to face Ludogorets Razgrad the first week of November.
Just as the games in the Premier League are quite winnable, so too are these three Europa League matches. As noted in our review of the draw, Tottenham Hotspur are not in the “Group of Death” and participating in Europa League, may have the opportunity to play some of the youth that was named to the squad like Jack Clarke.
The reality is these Europa League games will afford Jose Mourinho and company to continue to bed new players and mix up his lineups as the manager works to find the best XI for the campaign. With these midweek affairs to keep the club sharp between the weekend matches, Spurs should look to win seven games over the next three weeks.
These next three weeks are especially important to Tottenham this season when looking ahead at their schedule in the weeks following the next international break in November. With Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Wolves among the 12 matches Spurs will play between November 21 and the first international break of 2021 on January 3.