Brentford match kicks off big eight-day week for Tottenham Hotspur

After a frustrating postponement in their last time out, Tottenham Hotspur will be starting a huge three-match homestand on Thursday against Brentford.

With nine matches in three competitions over the next 27 days, Tottenham Hotspur is starting a critical part of their season. In a strange scheduling twist, six of those nine matches are in a pair of three-match eight-day homestands played across two competitions.

The first of those twin homestands runs from this Thursday 2 December until next Thursday when Spurs have a crucial Europa Conference League match with Stade Rennais FC on 9 December. The third match has Norwich City coming to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 5 December.

It is not hyperbole to believe that this first run of home matches is going to have a major bearing on Spurs season and what realistic goals Tottenham can reach.

For Spurs the Brentford match is huge and a win can be the difference between sixth place – with a game in hand – and being in the bottom half. Brentford is currently in 11th place but a win versus over Spurs would put the Bees above the Lilywhites in the table based on goal difference. This would leave Spurs no better than 10th place, depending on the outcome of Manchester United and Arsenal, possibly in 11th.

Sixth or 11th, is a huge difference, even this early in the season as Tottenham needs to get some momentum going under new gaffer Antonio Conte. The potential positioning in the table makes Brentford a must-win match for Spurs.

The Norwich game on Sunday is, even more, a must-win for Tottenham for different reasons. Whereas Tottenham is trying to fend off Brentford and climb back into some level of respectability in the table, Norwich is relegation fodder and simply must be smashed.

With a league’s worst -20 goal differential on only 10 points, Norwich is the type of game Tottenham simply must win to compete for anything in the league. Losses to teams in the top six happen, losses to teams in the bottom three are unacceptable and Norwich at home must be three points.

In theory, those six points in the next two matches could have Spurs back in the top four, although the game in hand makes it quite difficult. With the leaders already 14 points ahead but West Ham and the top four only five points away, two wins can make a world of difference for Tottenham’s cause.

Tottenham’s Conference League life is at stake next week

Some fans may think it is acceptable for Tottenham to fall out of the third-tier European competition that is the Europa Conference League. However, from a big picture perspective, this may be Spurs’ best opportunity to win a trophy this season. Sure, there are a lot more matches but theoretically, they should all be against beatable teams.

However, to have any chance to move forward in the competition, Tottenham needs to beat Rennes next week. The French club has already won the group and a win only guarantees Spurs two more matches, not the knockout round but a loss means the end of the journey.

The potential ridicule associated with an exit before the knockout round would just add to the horror that has been Spurs’ European story since Amsterdam. Alternatively, a win against Rennes, on the back of two wins in league play would have Tottenham set to start writing a new story, in Europe and at home under a new coach.

That new story can only be written if Tottenham steps up in the first match against Brentford on Thursday in this big eight-day week.