Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has been dealt another fitness worry alongside both Son Heung-min and Richarlison, with the Australian preparing for important games against Turkish champions Galatasaray in Europe and newly-promoted Ipswich Town in the Premier League.
Tottenham 4-1 Aston Villa as Spurs seal impressive win
The Lilywhites’ disappointing 1-0 defeat away to Crystal Palace recently appears to have been put firmly behind them.
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Spurs followed up that defeat at Selhurst Park by knocking English champions Man City out of the Carabao Cup last 16 last Wednesday, with Postecoglou’s side then thumping top four rivals Aston Villa 4-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The statement victory announced to supporters that they’re still very much in contention for a place in the Champions League next season, and maybe even potential silverware, as it was a convincing display by the home side.
Morgan Rogers originally handed Villa a 1-0 lead, which they maintained until the second period. Thereafter, the floodgates opened for Tottenham, who were revitalized after what must have been a stern half-time team talk by Postecoglou.
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Tottenham’s next five Premier League games |
Date |
|---|---|
|
Tottenham vs Ipswich Town |
November 10 |
|
Man City vs Tottenham |
November 23 |
|
Tottenham vs Fulham |
December 1 |
|
Bournemouth vs Tottenham |
December 5 |
|
Tottenham vs Chelsea |
December 8 |
In-form winger Brennan Johnson notched their equaliser a few minutes after the restart, with summer signing Dominic Solanke’s quick-fire brace then handing Spurs a 3-1 lead and a two-goal cushion with just 10 minutes left to play.
James Maddison was superb on the day and sealed all three points for the home side deep into added time, rounding off a brilliant win and relieving a lot of the pressure off Postecoglou’s shoulders.
“You’re playing a top team and you know with Villa that they’re always going to have a real strong performance because they’re very, very consistent. They rarely have off days and you’ve got to be ready for that,” said Postecoglou after Spurs’ 4-1 win over Villa.
“I thought we had to match it with them in the first half. We had to sort of draw on their energy and make them work really hard. Obviously we conceded a goal, but I still felt like we made them work really hard in that first half.
“And, you know, the thing with us is we’ve got another gear in us, two or three gears and we keep going and we felt like we could really break them open in the second half if we just really stayed focused on making sure the football was up tempo and there was intensity in the game and credit to the players after a massive effort on Wednesday night, at least they know that physically they did it again.”
One dampener of the afternoon was Richarlison picking up an injury, with the Brazilian picking up a hamstring problem.
Postecoglou dealt Werner concern alongside Son and Richarlison
A few key players are out for Spurs at the moment, including star centre-back Micky van de Ven, who is more long-term, so adding Richarlison to that list would be a blow considering the £90,000-per-week ex-Everton star has already missed a portion of this campaign through injury.
According to GiveMeSport, Timo Werner is also carrying a bit of an issue. The German, who scored his first goal since March with the opener against Man City last week, is apparently nursing a problem of his own alongside Son.
As a result, Werner is a fitness concern for Tottenham with Richarlison and Son, heading into their crunch clashes with Galatasaray and Ipswich in the coming week. Called a “quality player” by Postecoglou, the Spurs boss faces being left short of attacking options and a potential selection headache.
