Tottenham Hotspur commence 2023 this coming Sunday with a home fixture against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, with kick-off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium being 2 PM BST and the match being televised live on Sky Sports.
You can read excerpts from Antonio Conte’s pre-match press conference here, the statistical preview here, and the Spurs team news here.
With Spurs having fallen behind for the last nine matches in all competitions in a run stretching back all the way to the 2-0 defeat at Manchester United in mid-October.
Although Spurs have come back from such deficits many a time this season, losing only 6 out of the 15 matches in which they;ve conceded first in all competitions so far this season, Conte addressed the bizarre gravity of this situation, saying that his side must try to start matches in the strong manner that they usually finish them:
“For sure it’s strange, it’s a strange situation, to concede the first goal, to go down for nine games in a row, is very strange,” said Conte to the Evening Standard earlier this afternoon.
“And also, I think to pay more attention defensively, not concede a chance to our opponent to score first.
Indeed, although Villa in the end were swatted aside by Liverpool on Boxing Day, they made life difficult for the Merseysiders, wasting a whole host of chances and openings on the break, and will prove to be dangerous opponents once more on Sunday.
Monday’s performance from the Midlanders was generally a reflection of their improvement under Emery, whose brief tenure has yielded impressive wins over United and Brighton, and although his motley crew has a wretched record against our lot (losing 12 out of 14 encounters), if we give them a head start as we’ve done with our last 9 opponents, things may not end so pretty for the Lilywhites.
As Conte has warned in the past, these slow starts will come back to haunt us in the long run, and it is up to the lads to arrest those slow starts and make more imposing starts to matches from here on in.
The absence of Rodrigo Bentancur is a blow, and given the wretched first hour or so from his deputy Yves Bissouma at Brentford on Monday, the impact of the Uruguyuan’s unavailability will make many affiliated with Spurs shiver resoundingly.
Nevertheless, it is great to welcome back both Cristian Romero and Hugo Lloris – although Fraser Forster fared well on Monday, having the familiar face of Lloris behind the back three ought to bring a bit of familiarity back to the backline, something that is never a bad thing.
Romero’s return, given the respective sacks of nerves in reserve for the right centre-back slot in Japhet Tanganga and Davinson Sanchez, is also rather timely given the threat Villa pose on the break through the likes of Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins, who is looking to become the first Englishman since the ghastly Danny Sturridge in 2012 to score in three successive trips to Spurs.
Let’s hope we keep Watkins and co. quiet on Sunday, and our revitalised frontline deliver the goods on Sunday to get 2023 off to a stormer, but if 2022 is anything to go by, one can only guess which Spurs will turn up!