What we need to see from Tottenham vs Wolves in Carabao Cup
By Aaron Coe
After three straight without a win, a trip to Wolves does not sound like medicine but it is a chance for Tottenham Hotspur to show some things and get their season back on track.
Tottenham Hotspur enters their third different competition on Wednesday traveling to Wolverhampton for their third-round Carabao Cup match. This will be Spurs’ second trip to Wolverhampton in this short season after beating the Wanderers 0-1 in the second week of this nascent season.
The team that faces Wolves Wednesday will be vastly different than the one who beat the Wanderers one month to the day on August 22. With injuries to two of the three starting forwards from that match, some key contributors to the Tottenham win will not be involved.
Regardless of the injury situation, Tottenham needs to get back on the good side of the ledger and needs to find a way to win and get some positive momentum before the north London derby on Sunday. Here are three things we need to see from Spurs to get the win and start building for a successful season.
Tottenham need to play 90 minutes of football
Except for the Manchester City match to open the season, most fans will be hard-pressed to recall the last time Tottenham put in a full 90-minute shift. At the beginning of the season, it looked like Spurs were more fit than last season and would get stronger late in games, versus weaker.
After the last two weeks, where Spurs have been outscored 6 to 0, it is hard to argue that Tottenham gets stronger as the game goes on.
After a good 30-35 minutes against Chelsea, the wheels slowly came off and the team capitulated in the second half. Even with the injury situation that is simply not good enough. Fans pay to watch 90-minutes and football, so the players should play 90-minutes of football.
As players return from injury this should get easier but with three days to rest and recover following the match at Wolves, everyone needs to lay it on the line for the entire match.
Spurs need to score from open play
Tottenham has played seven games in all competitions and has scored only two goals from open play during that time. Heung-Min Son scored a screamer against Manchester City opening day and then Pierre Hojbjerg spared Spurs some blushes with his quick feet and deft touch to score Spurs second against Rennes.
Those two are the only two open play goals for Spurs thus far this season and two in seven matches simply is not enough.
Tottenham needs to get either Son or Harry Kane on track and scoring goals or this season could come apart quickly. Without any real cover and the injuries at forward, both Kane and Son should see significant minutes and one or both need to get in the scoring column.