Tottenham: Three things Spurs need to do better to beat Arsenal
By Aaron Coe
Tottenham Hotspur has lost two straight London derbies heading into the Emirates on Sunday. However, Spurs got a bit of their mojo back in a shoot-out win over Wolves in the Carabao Cup midweek.
Tottenham was much better against Wolves but still has a few issues that need to be addressed if Spurs hope to break their London derby drought. Here are three things Spurs need to do better against Arsenal than they have the last few weeks.
Tottenham needs to foul smarter
In football fouls are going to happen, in fact, they are so commonplace, there is what we all know as a professional foul. During the three-match unbeaten run to start the season, Tottenham made a lot of these kinds of fouls.
Fouls in the attacking half and near midfield can cost the team possession but they rarely lead directly to goal-scoring opportunities. Taking a page out of the Pep Guardiola handbook, Spurs were doing a lot of early fouling to stop counter-attacks before they happen.
However, the last several matches where the fouls have been occurring have gotten deeper and deeper in the defensive half. The closer a foul occurs to the goal the more dangerous it is and with Martin Ødegaard Arsenal has a good free-kick taker.
Fouls are going to happen, especially in a derby but Tottenham needs to try and keep those fouls further up the pitch closer to the Arsenal goal than their own.