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.
Spurs need to mark better on set pieces
Tottenham has now given up goals off of corner kicks in consecutive games. First Thiago Silva rose over Dele Alli and headed home the opening goal which swung the match in Chelsea’s favor. Then against Wolves, Leander Dendoncker headed home over an abject effort from Tanguy Ndombele.
Dendoncker had already won one header off of a corner kick and got a shot of goal that was right at Pierluigi Gollini. These headers are coming far too easily and far too often and Spurs need to find a way to defend them better.
Perhaps one way to do better would be having your best players in the air mark the other team’s best players in the air.
After Dendoncker won that first header Spurs should have recognized the danger and put a stronger player in the air on him than Ndombele. Whereas Thiago Silva’s goal was more about Dele getting beat, Ndombele was never going to win an aerial battle against a man much larger and better in the air.
Instead of Ndombele, someone like Cristian Romero or Davinson Sanchez should have been marking the opposition’s strongest player in the air. This ultimately is a situation where the Lilywhites need to work smarter.
Tottenham needs to keep Arsenal at a distance
Both Arsenal and Tottenham have struggled for goals in the Premier League this season. Spurs have only three, while the Gunners have just two. A big difference between the teams, however, is in the number of attempts they each take.
Despite scoring just the two goals thus far, it has not been from a lack of trying. Arsenal has attempted 72 shots, which is 14.4 shots per match. For comparison, Spurs have taken only 46 shots or 9.2 per match.
With five more attempts per match, we know Arsenal is going to try and let it fly.
Although the Gunners are shooting a lot, the majority of their shots (77%) are either blocked (22) or off-target (34). With only 16 shots on target, Tottenham actually has more shots on target (19) than does Arsenal.
It will be important for Spurs to keep Arsenal shooting from deep and blocking what they can when the opportunity arises.
WIth Son and Kane both available, Tottenham should have plenty of offense making Arsenal a winnable match. However, for Spurs to win the game they play smart defensively.