“It’s true this is not the best condition but we need to be ready and we need to take the excuse away from the players – ‘Maybe they are exhausted because they played on Monday?’ – no”. The German playmaker has the highest assist rate in Premier League history, with a set up every 2.71 games. He is now leaving a substantive mark on every game he plays and, much like his team, still produces style in abundance.
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Townsend has apologized for the spat but is believed to be considering his future at Tottenham, where the likes of Christian Eriksen, Mousa Dembele, Erik Lamela and Nacer Chadli have all moved ahead of him in the pecking order.
“There’s things for him to work with”, MacDonald said. Petr Cech is largely to thank for that – the 33 year-old’s arrival has coincided with Arsenal’s good run of form is no surprise; he has been one of the signings of the season, which could be key to Arsenal winning their first title in over a decade. Three, this is purely coincidence when looking back at all of Tottenham’s games.
One-time Fulham striker Stefano Okaka, the match-winner two weeks ago, nearly got in twice before last-ditch Jan Vertonghen interventions. Although Spurs nearly lost tonight’s game so the streak would have been snapped.
The enigmatic midfielder has completed a hugely impressive 83% of his attempted take ons this term (19/23) and has been paramount to Pochettino’s early-season success.
Pochettino withdrew Eriksen with a view to Sunday’s north London derby, introducing Heung-Min Son – who returned from injury – and the South Korean’s cross was half-cleared to Davies, who sent a dipping 25-yard volley against the crossbar.
As for Anderlecht, their win over Tottenham was their first in the competition, their other point came in a draw at home against Monaco. The only reason why a slow start can be considered a problem is because Tottenham needed to win this game.
On matchday three at Anderlecht, Brussels, Spurs started the game at a fast tempo but eventually tailed off in the end.
Of course, the Gunners were embarrassed in their own European fixture this week when Bayern Munich put five goals past them at the Allianz Arena.
Despite playing Aston Villa on Monday and having the north London derby against Arsenal looming on Sunday Pochettino still picked a near full-strength side, underlining the importance he was putting on the Belgian’s visit.
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The Daily Mail suggests Tottenham are keen to bring both Laurent Depoitre and Moses Simon, who both star for Belgian side Gent.
