Tottenham Hotspur will play ten more games until the curtain is drawn on Ange Postecoglou’s first campaign at the club, and there is certainly a lot to play for.
While Spurs were felled early in both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, also missing out on continental football this season after lumbering to an eighth-placed Premier League finish last year, there have been improvements in the top-flight, reflected in the position heading into the business end.
Fifth-placed and just three points behind Aston Villa, with a game in hand, the Lilywhites must find a way to settle the equilibrium, with recent results underpinning the inconsistency that will ruin a promising campaign if not tamed.
Next up, the London club do have a favourable fixture to get back into the swing of things – on paper, at least – hosting 17th-placed Luton Town, who have not won since the end of January.
Luton, promoted last year, have been cohesive and enthusiastic this season and will not roll over for the Lilywhites, though Postecoglou’s side have an abundance of attacking talent and this could ensure that the home side finish the day with the goods.
Spurs team news vs Luton
Micky van de Ven has been given the green light ahead of this afternoon’s contest and might return to the starting line-up, though Postecoglou will be wary that his outfit travel to the London Stadium to meet West Ham United on Tuesday night.
The loss of Van de Ven at Craven Cottage was significant. With the Dutch defender on the pitch, Tottenham average 2.2 points per game in the Premier League this season. Absent, his side have picked up just 1.3 points per game.
Yves Bissouma is bound to start once again in the centre of the park despite leaving much to be desired two weeks ago; Pape Matar Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur will battle for a place alongside the Malian.
Up front, Heung-min Son will start as always, though the question there is where. Postecoglou might be tempted to shuffle his pack after such a chastening result against Fulham, with Brennan Johnson one of the more likely members to miss out against the Hatters.
Brennan Johnson’s performance vs Fulham
James Maddison toiled and Dejan Kulusevski created just one key pass against the Cottagers, but Johnson has been the most infrequent starting member of Postecoglou’s set-up this season and has attributes that are well-suited off the bench.
He missed two big chances at the Cottage, also failing with his two attempted dribbles and winning just one of his five contested duels, with football.london’s Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold branding the Wales international with a lowly 4/10 match rating.
Gold said: ‘Couldn’t match his previous displays, hit one weak shot at the keeper and was poor with the ball although he should have had an assist for a ball across the face of goal that Werner should have tucked into the net.’
Johnson has been in excellent form over the past several weeks and has racked up four goals and six assists from 22 total Premier League outings for the club, impressing with his “frightening pace and directness”, as per content creator Dan Cook.
But he’s not the only attacking talent in the team and such a blunt effort before the break calls for changes, with Timo Werner waiting in the wings and Richarlison recovering from a knee injury to feature in the late stage against Fulham.
The latter, Richarlison, might be the one to unleash from the outset, with his goalscoring prowess across recent months so important for Champions League-chasing Tottenham.
It will be pivotal as the squad searches for success over the coming fixtures.
Why Richarlison must start vs Luton
Richarlison signed for Tottenham from Premier League rivals in a £60m package in 2022 but flattered to deceive across his first campaign in the capital, scoring one top-flight goal.
He improved… comparatively, since Postecoglou was appointed last summer but it wasn’t until he underwent groin surgery in November that he finally found the fluency requisite for success.
Since that point? The 26-year-old revelled in the finest scoring streak of his career as he plundered nine goals from ten Premier League showings before his feats were paused by a knee injury that he has only just returned from.
Having been called up to national duty with Brazil two weeks back, though an unused substitute across games against England and Spain, the £90k-per-week forward is ready to return to the spearhead for Tottenham.
Even before he uncovered that brilliant purple patch, Postecoglou was held in high regard by his Australian manager for his work rate and commitment.
Postecoglou said: “He works hard for the team and a lot of what he does, does not get seen. His pressing, his runs. Sometimes he does not get the ball but he is always making those runs and he is a constant nuisance for defenders. I have said before that I really like Richy.”
Moreover, the Brazilian’s inclusion allows Son to shift back into his favoured position on the left flank, where his creativity radiates the brightest, certainly not negating his goalscoring ability either.
Richarlison is not quite Kane but Son has a focal point to target in the 5 foot 10 menace, who has been praised for his “relentless” movements in the final third by journalist Joe Strange.
He simply has to start, ranking among the top 11% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for goals scored, the top 16% for tackles, the top 9% for interceptions and clearances and the top 1% for blocks per 90, as per FBref, Richarlison boasts both the prolificness and combative nature to cause Luton more than a few problems.
If he can recover such scintillating levels of attacking success over the weeks to come, Postecoglou will be confident that his side can enjoy a successful end to the campaign. That starts today, against Luton.
