Tottenham Need to Leverage Time in London While They Have it

When Tottenham traveled to Budapest Hungary to face Wolfsberger on February 18, few would know it would be the last match Spurs would play outside of London for a month. Due to scheduling quirks and timing, the next time Spurs leave London for a match is Thursday, March 18. With so much time in London Tottenham have to leverage this opportunity now.

Tottenham is All Over Town

Several things have transpired all at once to give Tottenham this rarely experienced extended stay in town but it starts with six Premier League teams in London. Fulham, Tottenham, Arsenal, West Ham, Crystal Palace, and Chelsea are all London-based teams in the Premier League. During this little stretch of seven straight matches in London, the Spurs play three on the road, versus West Ham, Fulham, and Arsenal.

Of course, the Spurs have already played both West Ham and Fulham, having split with the two London clubs, with archrival Arsenal in the not-so-distant future. So much London is happening for Tottenham right now, five of these seven matches in the city are derbies. With Palace still coming to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before the Arsenal match, the only derby Spurs are missing is Derby County but they are not in London anyway, sorry Wayne.

Tottenham need to enjoy London now

Spurs may have this stretch of games in their hometown with four of the seven matches at N17 but this respite does not last long. When Tottenham travels to Croatia to play Dinamo Zagreb it will be Spur’s 8th match in exactly four weeks and the first time they have left London in that time. Unfortunately, for the Spurs, they will not be back home a ton after that.

After so much time in London, Tottenham has only 1 home match scheduled for all of the month of April, currently Saturday the 10th versus Manchester United. Advancing in the Europa League can provide Spurs more home dates and there is still the matter of the to be postponed Southampton match to reschedule at home some point in north London.

Tottenham has three home dates – not including Europa League – scheduled for May as the season winds down. Additionally, Spurs are set to play Manchester City at Wembley end of April so they will be in town for that. However, what is clear is that the home-living Spurs have held for the last fortnight and one more fortnight to come will be a thing of the past.

Spurs finally have a couple of wins in a row in League, so beating Palace to get on a winning streak is vitally important. This is especially true with a knock-out game and Arsenal on the docket.

Change aids Spurs at Arsenal

The most ironic change in all of this was the move of the club’s Europa League tie to north London on Thursday. Originally, Tottenham – like Arsenal – was scheduled to travel on the road for the first leg of the Round of 16 Europa League competition. However, since the competition does not want two games played the same evening in the same city and Arsenal is Cupholder, so Tottenham was moved.

Of course, having Spurs host on Thursday instead of traveling to Croatia is an advantage for Spurs. So the Lilywhites stay home in London prior to their Sunday trip to the Emirates. Meanwhile, Arsenal flies to Greece to take on Olympiacos and then comes back for the Sunday match. Definitely an advantage for Tottenham and one they must leverage.

Now or never for Spurs

The reality is that teams around Tottenham continue to slip, whether Manchester United, West Ham, Liverpool, Villa, or Leicester, everyone is dropping some points. Spurs are not going to get another stretch like this where they can nightly sleep in their beds and avoid taking flights or long bus trips. Keeping tired legs on the ground and in recovery, versus on a plane under pressure can really help.

Regardless of why or how it has happened, the schedule has broken a little for Tottenham in they get to stay home for an extended period. Whether playing at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium or not, sleeping in one’s own bed is always an advantage. Spurs have to leverage this opportunity if they are going to achieve some of the big goals set forth for the team.