Dominic Solanke finding his feet at Tottenham after a slow start
Tottenham Hotspur travel to Old Trafford to lock horns with Manchester United in what promises to be one of the standout Premier League fixtures of the weekend.
The two sides are level on points in mid-table, but the Lilywhites are one spot above Erik ten Hag’s side in tenth place due to their superior goal difference. Ange Postecoglou’s boys have largely played eye-catching football but haven’t been clinical enough in front of goal, which has been their main problem this season.
However, things have started to click for Tottenham since last week. They have now registered three wins on the spin across three different competitions, beating Coventry City, Brentford and Qarabag in the process.
Dominic Solanke endured a disrupted start to life at Spurs following his big summer move from Bournemouth. The striker spent a couple of weeks on the sidelines after an ankle injury suffered in his official Tottenham debut against Leicester City.
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However, after a slow start to life at N17 that saw him fail to score in any of his first three appearances, club-record signing Dominic Solanke has been finally among the goals. He opened his Tottenham account in the 3-1 league win over Brentford last weekend before adding to his tally in midweek with a solitary strike and an assist against Qarabag in the Europa League.
The 27-year-old has started Spurs’ last two games, clocking 88 and 85 minutes against Brentford and Qarabag respectively. And now Ange Postecoglou has given us an update on Solanke’s fitness levels ahead of Spurs’ trip to Manchester United.
“He’s getting there. Like I said, he didn’t do pre-season with us and then he has one game and then he’s out for two weeks, while the other guys were building up their match fitness,” Ange Postecoglou said in his pre-match press conference (h/t Football London).
“He is getting there and probably played longer than I wanted for him to play tonight, just the circumstances of the game, but the one thing about him is he just keeps going. Great for him to get another goal but his all-round performance was really strong.
“When you’re down to 10-men, you need your striker to be able to hold up the play and do some hard running, which I thought he did.”
Indeed, Solanke wasn’t involved in the pre-season tour of Asia, largely contributing to a not-so-ideal start to life at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Moreover, an ankle injury sustained against Leicester City further hampered his progress, resulting in him missing the league fixtures against Everton and Newcastle.
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Having broken the duck now, the one-cap England international should be full of confidence heading into the game against Man United. Big Ange also seems happy with the progress Solanke has been making since recovering from an ankle problem.
We wish to see our record-signing stay completely free of injuries and continue firing goals left, right and centre for Spurs.
