Tottenham Hotspur had to toil through extra time as they beat non-League side Tamworth in their FA Cup third round tie on Sundayy.
One would think a Premier League side coming off an impressive 1-0 victory over topflight leaders Liverpool from the game before would have no trouble dispatching a side four divisions below them, but this is Ange Postecoglou‘s Tottenham we’re talking about. Those who have followed Spurs closely this season would have expected them to have a slip-up at the weekend, which they did even if they managed to get the result in the end.
Now, for the first time since September, Tottenham have managed back-to-back clean sheets. Sure, Tamworth weren’t exactly a tough challenge after he saw Liverpool through, but there’s a reason shut-outs have been hard to by for Spurs before Antonín Kinský arrived just a few days ago, breathing some much-needed life into a defence that is chugging along with one half-fit centre-back.
These results could have arrived at the better time for the Lilywhites, for they have filled the side up with confidence just as they gear up to face Arsenal in the next iteration of the North London Derby this Wednesday.
The last time these two sides met, we were presented a 1-0 scoreline as Gabriel Magalhães scored the Gunners’ winner from a corner—something that has since become a recurring theme for them, and a troubling one.
Spurs have not beaten Arsenal since the end of the 2021/22 season. They will want to change this, and as the two sides come into the next NLD Spurs find themselves with the upper hand rather surprisingly.
While Tottenham made a mountain out of their FA Cup molehill on the weekend, Arsenal hosted Man United at the Emirates, the Red Devils looking somewhat resilient off late. They too were taken to extra time, but unlike Tottenham they could not take advantage of the extra half-hour and then lost the tie on penalties, resulting in another early FA Cup exit.
The United defeat has arrived amid and as a result of a troubling pattern for the Gunners, who are now winless in three and last won against Brentford on New Year’s Day. What started early in the season as a reliance on set-pieces has since worsened into an over-reliance as they continue struggling in open play. What’s more, even the goals from set-pieces have become hard to come by as teams have learned to double down on their preparations when facing them.
Now, we know thanks to Postecoglou’s track record and statements that Tottenham are not going to set up with an ad-hoc solution to tackle Arsenal’s challenges, but this time, they might just be able to win anyway.
Both sides are coming into this game stricken with injuries, but Spurs have at this point made peace with their predicament and have ended up with a settled backline in the absence of alternatives, settled enough for the players to be able to figure out how to deal with the Arsenal threat within Postecoglou’s setup better than they could back in September.
Kinský’s ability to command his box will make it further trickier for Arsenal to find answers with set-pieces. On the other end of the pitch, there is but one change Postecoglou will want to enforce—not start Timo Werner and Mikey Moore. The teenager can be forgiven for not being particularly lethal—he’s still honing his craft, but the Germany international looks incapable of being a lethal enforcer as a centre-forward.
While he can still offer industry out wide, particularly when the team need to defend with all their outfield players, when it comes scoring Spurs will need their converters, and to that end Dominic Solanke and Son Heung-min can be expected to make the starting XI. While one of Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson will occupy the right-wing slot, with the other offering threat off the bench.
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It’s a rare case on Tottenham coming into this game offering threat in the very department Arsenal would like, and they’d be looking at their players and application in envy as they go about trying to extend their North London Derby record on Wednesday night.
