After Aston Villa both figuratively and literally slipped to a third consecutive defeat against Wolves, they will be looking to bounce off back against in-form Spurs that brushed aside Newcastle last Sunday.
I spoke to Spurs Versus to find out more about their January signings, the importance of Harry Kane’s more creative role and what Spurs need to improve on to bring Champions League football to their stadium.
UTV PODCAST X SPURS VERSUS
In January, Tottenham welcomed in two key signings in Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur who have both been implemented into the first team, have the two signings impressed you so far?
Definitely, they’ve had a huge impact on the team. When they joined, most Spurs fans weren’t too hopeful, as Kulusevski wasn’t a first-teamer for Juventus and many of their fans were glad to see the back of Bentancur. On top of this, they weren’t our first choice signings in January, with Luis Diaz and Kessie, our preferred options. But the Juve duo have been excellent… Kulusevski has looked like he’s played in the Premier League for years, despite only being 21, he has already been involved in 7 goals in just 8 starts. While Bentancur has been extremely solid in the centre of the park, he has a great touch, always looks forward and is silky in possession. Hojbjerg has also improved as a result, as they’ve formed a strong partnership. Overall, two of our best signings in recent years (at least based on the evidence so far!)
Spurs Versus
While Harry Kane hasn’t been as prolific as his usual standards, he has still been popping up here and there with goals, however in recent seasons, Kane has added a more creative side to his game, how important is that to the team?
Extremely important. It’s obviously great to see him get on the scoresheet, which he has done so much over the years, but the most important thing is that he’s playing well and helping the side tick, and he’s been doing that incredibly well in 2022. The perfect example of this has been in our last 2 games against West Ham and Newcastle, we’ve scored 8 goals in total and he bagged none of those, yet he’s arguably been the man of the match in both games. 3 brilliant assists in those, and overall just his ability to drop back and pull the strings, in the same way someone like Eriksen or De Bruyne does, is rare for a striker and shows the top quality he has. If he maintains this form, top 4 could be ours.
Spurs Versus
Spurs are currently bordering on the Champions League spots as it looks as though they will battle their North London Neighbours for that fourth spot, what do they need to improve in order to guarantee that spot?
Defending set pieces needs a lot of work. The last 3 goals we’ve conceded have all been from corners/freekicks. We switch off too often, and we give away needless fouls that invite these chances. We also need to show more grit in the business end of the season, too often we’ve seen Spurs in the past falling at the final hurdle and lacking that mental strength in the games that really matter. It will be huge for us to get back into the Champions League, we’re in the driving seat for it now, with an easier run of fixtures over Arsenal, and having to still play them at our ground. So we need to capitalise, take our chances and start dissociating ourselves with terms like “spursy” and “bottlers”.
Spurs Versus
Finally, what’s your score predictions for Saturday?
1-1
Spurs Versus
FORM GUIDE
PLAYER STATS
GOALS
- 14 Goals – Son Heung-Min (TOT)
- 12 Goals – Harry Kane (TOT)
- 8 Goals – Ollie Watkins (AVL)
OPPOSITION FOCUS | The Perfect Striker
After Spurs swept aside the Geordies by thrashing them 5-1, David Ginola joking referred to Harry Kane as the new Diego Maradona making reference to Harry Kane setting up three goals in the last games for Spurs. While it is undeniable that Harry Kane is one of the best finishers in the world, I want to take a deeper look into his game and ask is Kane the greatest English striker the world has ever seen?
To determine whether this is the case I want to first take a look at Kane’s stats over the last few seasons. In the 19/20 season, Kane managed an impressive 18 goals but only mustered up 2 assists which highlighted an area of Kane’s game that he needed to work on. Enter Jose Mourinho and we see a completely different player as shown by his record in the following season where he gained 23 goals and 14 assists earning him the Golden Boot. Although Kane had a difficult start to the season under Nuno, when Conte came in the lethal finisher returned to form and is currently sitting on 6 assists and 12 goals.
So it is clear to see from his stats that Harry Kane has developed his game and has turned into a creative playmaker as well as a deadly finisher but just how important is Harry Kane to Tottenham. Well if we take a look at the last full season (2020/2021), Spurs scored 68 goals in the league, Kane’s goals and assists accounted for 29 of those. That means Harry Kane played an involvement in 43% of Spurs’ goals last season. An impressive stat I’m sure you will agree.
So we’ve looked at Kane’s stats and how vital he is to Tottenham but I want to look at Kane’s trophy cabinet which is arguably his greatest weakness. As a team, Kane is yet to win any major trophies although he has taken Spurs to a Carabao Cup Final and a Champions League Final. As well as this, Kane has captained England to a World Cup Semi-Final and was a penalty shootout away from the Euros Champion.
Whilst it is very debatable that Harry Kane is the greatest English striker when you take into account the likes of Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker, he has a claim to the title.
THE LAST THREE
PLAYER STATS
ASSISTS
- 6 Assists – Harry Kane (TOT)
- 6 Assists – Son Heung-Min (TOT)
- 5 Assists – Danny Ings (AVL)
PREMIER LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD
MY PREDICTION
It’s hard to go into this one with a positive mindset especially with how poor we’ve been at home at times this season and the fact that Spurs just pummelled Newcastle 5-1. However I’ve found a way and I’m going to predict an entertaining 2-2 draw with Coutinho reigniting his red hot home form with a goal and an assist to Tyrone Mings.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Graham Scott. Assistants: Harry Lennard, Mark Scholes. Fourth official: Craig Pawson. VAR: Jarred Gillett. Assistant VAR: Lee Betts.
LAST TIME AT VILLA PARK | ASTON VILLA 0-2 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Villa Park is once again set to be a sellout so we need to make an incredible atmosphere and help the boys out of this poor run of form. Up The Villa!
ELLIS BURNETT | UTV PODCAST
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive ellisburnett – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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