Fresh from what could prove to be a season-saving win in the Europa League, Tottenham Hotspur‘s final Premier League game before the international break takes place on Sunday, an intriguing London derby away to Fulham.
Ange Postecoglou masterminded a 3-1 win over AZ Alkmaar in Thursday’s European contest, while the Cottagers have had a week to reflect on a crushing 2-1 loss at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion.
Match preview
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The man who unforgettably claimed that he “always” wins trophies in his second season with a club could still uphold that statement’s accuracy come May, as Postecoglou witnessed his Spurs side complete an expected turnaround over AZ in their Europa League last-16 battle.
Two strikes from Wilson Odobert – including one from a magnificent team passing move – either side of a James Maddison finish earned Tottenham a quarter-final date with 2021-22 champions Eintracht Frankfurt, and a Peer Koopmeiners response from a Tottenham error proved meaningless in the grand scheme.
While Postecoglou will never publicly admit to prioritising one competition over another, the Australian will surely be allocating more of his time to Europa League preparation given that there is realistically very little at stake for Spurs in the Premier League between now and the end of the campaign.
Indeed, the 13th-placed Lilywhites are 12 points below the top-seven spots and 17 points clear of the relegation zone, meaning that a lacklustre top-flight season is likely now a write-off for the North London club, who at least showed guts and guile to draw 2-2 with Bournemouth last week.
Spurs have therefore only lost one of their last five Premier League matches and have won their last two top-flight contests on the road against Brentford and Ipswich Town, but now is the time for the superstitious fans to look away, as Tottenham have been beaten in each of their last five league games just before an international break.
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One of those defeats coincidentally came to none other than Fulham this time last year, a harrowing 3-0 slaughter at Craven Cottage, and Marco Silva‘s men also held their own when they visited the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December and left with a 1-1 draw.
The Cottagers have remarkably only lost four of their subsequent 18 matches across all competitions, although one of those reverses came at the Amex last weekend, where despite drawing first blood through Raul Jimenez, they succumbed to a Jan Paul van Hecke and Joao Pedro-led revival.
Pedro’s penalty in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time was a devastating blow to Fulham’s European aspirations, although the 10th-placed hosts are still very much in the continental mix, only lying four points adrift of the top seven positions.
Consistency at home has been harder to come by for Silva’s men in recent weeks, though, as Fulham have also won just one of their last seven Premier League fixtures at their Craven Cottage headquarters, drawing four and losing an additional two in that time.
Furthermore, the Cottagers only have the one clean sheet to show from their last 18 top-flight games on home turf, and that was against whipping boys Southampton in December’s goalless draw, offering Spurs significant hope of bucking their pre-international break trend.
Team News
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Tottenham ought to come into Sunday’s game with an identical squad from their success over AZ, where Lucas Bergvall appeared to be suffering from cramp in the closing stages, but nothing that should impact his availability for the weekend.
Either way, Postecoglou can recall Rodrigo Bentancur to the midfield after he served a Europa League ban on Thursday, and the Spurs boss is only without Kevin Danso (hamstring), Radu Dragusin (ACL), Richarlison (calf) and Dejan Kulusevski (foot) due to injury.
Danso’s problem saw Postecoglou revert to the first-choice Cristian Romero–Micky van de Ven pairing against AZ, but as he is still erring on the side of caution with the latter’s fitness, teenage starlet Archie Gray could come back into the XI for the derby.
As far as Fulham are concerned, Reiss Nelson (thigh), Kenny Tete (knee) and Harry Wilson (foot) are all guaranteed to be unavailable for the visit of Spurs, as is Sasa Lukic, who serves the second of a two-game ban for accumulating 10 yellow cards.
Silva opted for an unorthodox three-man defensive shape last week due to the absences of both Lukic and Adama Traore, the latter of whom missed out with an ankle injury, but he is now back in training and in contention to feature.
Traore could make a swift return to the starting XI here, as Silva may not see the need to go conservative against a tired Tottenham outfit who regularly leave gaps in behind their defence ready to be exploited.
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Pereira, Berge; Traore, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Jimenez
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Vicario; Porro, Romero, Gray, Udogie; Sarr, Bentancur, Maddison; Odobert, Solanke, Son
We say: Fulham 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Silva’s 200th match as a Premier League manager should be good entertainment value for the neutrals, as Fulham can surely afford to adopt an attacking approach against Postecoglou’s fatigued men.
However, the Lilywhites have shown increased levels of spirit over the past week and can likely bite back just as hard to claim a well-earned point in a second successive 2-2 top-flight stalemate.
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