A glance at the fixture list for October will fill most Spurs fans with a cocktail of emotions, including excitement, hope and stomach wrenching anxiety. In the space of 11 days we face Real Madrid, Liverpool, West Ham and Man United. This run of fixtures begins in the Bernabeu, finishes at Old Trafford with Liverpool at “home” sandwiched in the middle.
Even so early in the season this month could be the catalyst to what Tottenham hope to achieve this season. Liverpool at Wembley and Man United away are key fixtures if Spurs hope to achieve a top 4 finish or maybe even still challenge for the title, which would be an incredible achievement considering we are without a home ground this season.
Playing Liverpool in the wide-open spaces of Wembley is not the most attractive of propositions, however their defensive frailties are there for all to see. If Tottenham employ similar tactics as they did against Dortmund, and use the added pace of Davinson Sanchez to nullify Liverpool’s pace in the attacking third, we could see a similar result as against Dortmund.
If Tottenham find their rhythm at Wembley and begin dispatching the so called lesser sides with ease, as they did last season at White Hart Lane, it will be the head to head games with the top 6 that will dictate our final league position.
Taking Champions League football into the new stadium would be a massive statement, and this could also be vital in attracting that marque signing during next summer’s transfer window we will all be crying out for.
Real Madrid have not been at their free-flowing best yet this season, they find themselves languishing down in 8th in La Liga and lost their impressive unbeaten home record to Real Betis. Three points against Dortmund was just the kick-start the Champions league campaign needed, any points against Real Madrid especially in the Bernabeu would greatly improve our chances of getting out of the “Group of Death”. However, before we can dream of victory in Madrid it is vital to collect all three points away in Cyprus against Apoel.
The draw in the league cup couldn’t have been much worse, at Wembley and against a team that loves nothing more than getting one over on us. Pochettino’s recent comments about the cups not being a priority have come in for criticism over recent days. On the other hand, get through against West Ham and suddenly we are in a quarter final and attitudes may change towards the much-maligned competition.
October is a huge month for Spurs, massive fixtures against some of the best teams in England, Europe and West Ham. Those 11 days could be looked back on as the turning point of our whole season for better or worse. Before diving into October’s fixtures, let’s finish September off in style with a victory in the East London Cup final. Up the Spurs!
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
