Entering today’s must-win match against Manchester United in seventh place, Tottenham must execute these three facets to come away with all three points.
The Lilywhites enter the match five points adrift of fourth place Chelsea and 11 back of the Red Devils. Every match against United ranks near the top of the most anticipated list, but Spurs supporters look forward to this test with equal measure of excitement and apprehension.
For Tottenham to cut the gap with Chelsea to two points, they’ll have to concentrate on acing the fundamentals while being at their opportunistic best.
3. Start on the front foot
Forgetting about the misery of the Newcastle disappointment by starting the match on the front foot is a crucial first step in achieving victory against our bitter northern rivals. While Spurs recovered last week to take the lead into the second half on Tyneside, they conceded the first goal, which historically leads to unsavoury results.
When conceding first, Tottenham have lost nine of12 contests this season. Spurs haven’t won after conceding the first goal since beating Manchester United 6-1 back in October. Their other win after going down a goal occurred in the 5-2 thrashing of Southampton in Match Week 2, on Sept. 20.
Jose Mourinho’s side have, for the most part, started well this season, scoring the first goal in 17 matches. It’s imperative for the Lilywhites to show positive intent from the off, as a result mirroring their thrashing of United earlier in the season after going down a goal is unlikely.
Even if Spurs plan on employing their counterattack-first style, a probable scenario, it’s crucial for the home side to open the scoring before falling back into a containment style of defence. Of course we all hope Spurs don’t sit back after scoring, but history tells us that’s as unlikely as Tottenham overcoming a goal deficit to take all three points.
2. Avoid unforced individual mistakes
Tottenham’s achilles heel is their propensity to commit needless individual mistakes. Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier, Serge Aurier and even Hugo Lloris are the primary culprits, all of whom must concentrate on perfecting the fundamentals while eradicating unnecessary and costly errors.
If Spurs can avoid shooting themselves in the foot, they’ll have every chance of taking all three points. It’s hard to conceive of how many points Spurs have dropped due to committing inexplicable errors. Suffice to say that total easily eclipses double digits. More accurately, the total probably busts the 20-point threshold.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Spurs would still be challenging Manchester City atop the Premier League had they found the antidote to the contagious personal blunders’ infection. It’s another reminder of Tottenham’s priorities on the transfer market in the summer. Procuring stable, reliable and non-error prone defenders will pay immediate dividends.
1. Son Heung-min ends eight-match scoreless streak
Son Heung-min hasn’t scored in eight Premier League matches. That scoreless streak includes a couple week patch where he missed out due to a hamstring injury. Sonny has contributed with assists during his almost unheard of extended drought, but it’s clear that Tottenham require their South Korean star to consistently bulge the old onion bag.
Sonny, who has scored just one goal in his last 15 Premier League matches, has netted 13 times this season and is still eight goals clear of Gareth Bale, Tottenham’s third leading scorer. While almost impossible to sustain the prolific rate with which Sonny began the campaign, the South Korean himself knows he needs to get back to his goal-scoring ways.
Tottenham have lost just one of nine matches where Sonny gets on the scoresheet. The lone defeat came at the hands of Liverpool at Anfield in mid-December. Otherwise, Spurs never lose when Sonny bags at least one. That stat alone shows how important his goals are on the overall team’s success.
Spurs will almost certainly pick up all three points and provide supporters hope for the run in if their treasured South Korean can somehow manage to sore his first goal in nine encounters.
They say form is temporary and class is permanent. Based on that adage, it’s only a matter of time before Son finds his way back to the rich vein of goalscoring form we had the pleasure of witnessing during the inchoate stage of the campaign.