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For Tottenham Hotspur, the pre-season worries over their new stadium and having signed no players in the summer transfer window will have left many fans wondering whether they would be able to better last season's third-place finish.
Four games in, Tottenham find themselves in the fifth position in the League table with 9 points from a possible 12, their victories including an extremely impressive 3-0 win away at Manchester United. Mauricio Pochettino will hail his ability to keep all of his star players from last season an even bigger success considering the majority of them had impressive World Cups, with 9 of the starting 11 that featured against Manchester United having reached at least the semi-finals of the tournament in Russia.
Tottenham's nine goals scored so far is a joint third highest tally in the Premier League, only behind current champions Manchester City and Chelsea. What will have pleased Pochettino is that the reliance on Harry Kane on scoring those goals seems to have been lifted somewhat this season, with only 2 of them coming from Spurs' main man. The resurgence of Lucas Moura this season has surprised many, and his partnership with Kane came to fruition in the victory over United, where Moura managed to put two past David de Gea. Tottenham's 9 goals have been spread out amongst 5 of the players in the squad. In a long, challenging season like the Premier League, it's vital to have multiple outlets who can score the goals, and Spurs look to have this.
One of the main causes for concern for Tottenham's championship-winning credentials is their lack of squad depth. With insufficient cover in right back and striker positions, Spurs will struggle should injuries occur to Kane or Kieran Trippier, with Serge Aurier and Fernando Llorente being the only back-up for these positions respectively. At left back, Ben Davies looks set to maintain the position over Danny Rose, who is still yet to find his form under Pochettino.
Like Manchester City, Tottenham have much the same squad as they did in the last campaign, and will be hoping that the team can push on and create more competition for the Premier League title than they had managed last season.
Having made the fifth highest number of passes in the PL this season, Pochettino's style of short, quick passes is firmly embedded into the team, and it's that style of play that's improved Spurs' finishing position in the Premier League over the past few seasons. Tottenham have found themselves in the opposition third for 29% of the four matches played, again the fifth-highest total in the league, illustrating their strength in getting the ball forward.
With Pochettino at the helm, and with quality across the team such as Kane, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen, Tottenham have a team that can challenge any other on their day. However, their form against the top 6 is usually what lets them down throughout the season. Tottenham fans will be hoping that the result against Manchester United is a sign that the team have gotten past their fear of playing the bigger sides.
The defeat against Watford, however, will bring a cause for concern. After having 65% possession and nine shots to Watford's five, Spurs fans will be hoping that the defeat was no more than an irregularity as opposed to a sign of post World Cup fatigue for their star players.
Rating so far: 7/10
