In a move that should have surprised few, Antonio Conte opted for the same starting XI he planned on playing at Burnley for the home tie with Brentford.
As Spurs’ new coach continues to work to make his evaluations on his new squad, it would have been more surprising had Conte second-guessed himself and changed the XI scheduled to play versus Burnley than not.
Conte actually named the same 20 players as he did for Burnley, continuing to leave out Joe Rodon for the time being.
Whatever Tottenham did over the last seven days, besides taking a wasted road trip, working from an effort perspective and Spurs looked like a team who wanted it more. While not playing great, Tottenham did enough from an effort and intensity perspective to top Brentford 2-0 without a lot of fuss. Read on for our Tottenham Hotspur player ratings.
Rating Tottenham’s defence
Tottenham did enough defensively to limit Brentford to only a handful of half-chances as Spurs managed their fifth shutout of the Premier League season.
Hugo Lloris (GK)
Tottenham’s captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was hardly troubled on the evening. In the times where he did have to take charge in the box, it was because Spurs struggled to clear the ball but Lloris did well to make some claims and calm some situations. Lloris had two saves and a couple of nice claims but the bigger statistic that matters is zero. That zero was Lloris’ fifth clean sheet of the season and second in three league games under Conte. 8
Ben Davies (LB)
Ben Davies continues to show real promise in his new role under Conte. Davies was active in both boxes and was initially credited with Spurs’ opening goal. WIth permission to push forward in support of and even overlapping Sergio Reguilón Davies can provide some push for Spurs. 7.5
Eric Dier (CB)
Eric Dier was in control most of the evening, although he did almost make a big mistake early, fortunately, the hustle and effort of others, helped prevent a situation from deteriorating. Dier’s passing was not great as he tried to force the ball forward more than he usually does playing 26 of his 57 passes forward. Those balls need to be better moving forward but great to see him make those aggressive passes. 7
Davinson Sanchez (RB)
If any Spurs defender was harried at any point during the match it was Davinson Sanchez. The Colombian continues to be awkward at best in the air clearing the ball particularly if put under pressure. Sanchez had six aerial wins but few were true clearances. Early in the match before Tottenham scored and took control, Sanchez was under pressure and often just booted the ball away. With Romero out, someone needs to step up, Sanchez can do better. 6.5
Rating the Tottenham midfield
It was in the midfield where Tottenham was especially effective on Thursday. While none of the four were particularly sharp, although there were some moments, the hustle and effort out of the two central midfielders and both wingbacks propelled Spurs to the win.
Sergio Reguilón (LWB)
Aside from a couple of poor touches and a cross or two that could have been better, Sergio Reguilón was excellent on the left for Tottenham, getting up and down the flank in both directions. Reguilón managed five crosses but the biggest was a simple square pass into the middle, which Son finished for Spurs second. A big game on both sides of the ball for Sergio for sure! 8
Oliver Skipp (CM)
After a poor outing against Mura last week, Oliver Skipp was outstanding against Brentford. Skipp was all over the pitch defensively winning tackles, intercepting the ball, and even clearing it once when the need arose. Even better was the attacking sense that Skipp showed trying to connect on a couple of through balls behind the Bee’s defence. One was snared by the keeper, the second was saved by the keeper but could have just as easily been an assist to Kane. Skipp bounced back.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (CM)
Pierre Højbjerg did it all for Tottenham on Thursday, well everything but successful complete a chest to volley attempt at the back post. Højbjerg was instrumental, particularly early, in helping Spurs win back possession and disrupt the things Brentford was trying to do. Passing better than most and working to help maintain versus waste possession, Højbjerg was good. 7.5
Emerson Royal (RWB)
Emerson Royal had some moments on both ends of the pitch where he was either behind a defender or defending an attacker trying to get behind him. Importantly, Royal was always where he needed to be and defensively he did the job well, with some timely tackles and clearances. Offensively, Royal has had better days as Spurs pushed much more up the left than the right. His one real opportunity to get a nice cross-off went awry. 6.5
Tottenham forward ratings
Spurs stuck with the three-man attack and it paid off versus Brentford as the interchange between the Son and Kane, in particular, caused some problems for Bees and helped Tottenham win.
Heung-Min Son (LFW)
Undoubtedly, Tottenham’s South Korean superstar Heung-Min Son made the two biggest plays of the match. His move and cross for the first goal caught multiple defenders flat-footed and resulted in the own goal. On Spurs’ second goal, it was Son who started the play, and then both anticipated the play and hustled to get there for an easy finish. The best Son has looked overall in some time. 8
Harry Kane (STK)
It was an up-and-down day for Harry Kane. Spurs’ all-time leading scorer in the Premier League had a couple of opportunities but his touch and then a decent save kept him from scoring when he might have in the past. Working hard in the middle of the park, Kane received little protection from Jonathan Moss but kept fighting and made a huge pre-assist on Son’s game-winner, hitting the ball into space for Reguilón to run onto. Doing everything but scoring, Kane is getting to where he needs to be. 7
Lucas Moura (RFW)
If any Spurs player had an off-day, it was Lucas Moura. Moura had a hard time getting on the ball and turning against the Bee’s defense. Playing wider than we have seen him for much of the first half, Moura often turned and had little space and would end up passing to no one in particular. In the second half, Moura did better to hold the ball in those positions and then look to run in on the ball in different situations. Not a great game but worked hard. 6.
Ratings Spurs’ substitutes and coach
Tottenham made three changes all after the team had secured a two-goal advantage. Two of the three substitutions were about keeping the defence sound and the third was just to see how the player would respond.
Harry Winks
In at 77 minutes for Lucas Moura, Winks was brought on to help crowd the midfield Brentford was trying to push its way through. Winksy helped sure up the middle but did not do anything to earn himself more minutes. 6
Japhet Tanganga
On with under 10 minutes to play for Emerson Royal, Tanganga played more as a true 5th back than an attacking wingback in this brief time on the pitch, although he did manage to get forward in his short time. N/A
Steven Bergwijn
Bergwijn came on for Son with less than five minutes left in the 90. Bergwijn did manage three successful passes in his appearance and won a header. Maybe Bergwijn is another who is willing to fight for his position. N/A
Antonio Conte (Coach)
Coach Conte had Spurs ready to play from the opening whistle and despite the team not being sharp, there was clear intent and hard work across the pitch. The team is starting to look like a Conte team but still has a lot of work to do. Hopefully, the players can learn from this and keep building. 7