Tottenham finally put an end to their wretched home form this evening, sending 60,000 freezing fans home with a rare three points. Let’s take a look at the five things we learned:
Returning Tottenham players
Guglielmo Vicario returned to the Tottenham XI and earned a clean sheet with multiple impressive stops. James Maddison returned to the XI and scored the winning goal. Brennan Johnson back off the bench. Wilson Odobert back off the bench. Destiny Udogie back in the matchday squad.
Bit by bit, Tottenham Hotspur are finally getting their squad back and Ange Postecoglou will be all the better for it. It is no surprise that Man United – who were without a senior bench – tired long before Spurs who were finally able to call on some subs today. Oh, have we been there?
First home Premier League win in 105 days
It has been a long old wait for the White Hart Lane faithful, but Tottenham finally got back to winning ways on their home turf this evening. For season ticket holders heading to the stadium for every home match, it was 105 days without a Premier League win for the Lilywhites. Before today, the last time Postecoglou and Co tasted victory at their own stadium in the league was back on November 3rd 2024 in a 4-1 win over Aston Villa.
Djed Spence Man of the Match
What a player Djed Spence is turning out to be! We have talked about the likes of Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall being silver linings amidst an awful injury crisis, but Djed Spence’s minutes have also gone through the roof thanks to the absence of Destiny Udogie.
The ironic thing is that even now that Udogie is back, Djed Spence will take some displacing. He is arguably Tottenham’s best-performing full-back this season, even above Pedro Porro.
James Maddison the creative spark for Tottenham
Tottenham have lacked a creative spark in recent weeks, with James Maddison out injured and Dejan Kulusevski looking burned out. Even when Spurs were open defensively last season, you were always confident that they could score a few of their own. That has not been the case over the past month.
Today, Maddison ran the show for his 60 minutes on the pitch, picking up possession from deep, pulling the strings, and also getting in on the act in the box. His celebration seemed to be aimed at a certain Mr Roy Keane who criticised Maddison for not stepping up to the plate consistently in the Premier League. Can he continue to prove him wrong now?
Dizzying heights of 12th
Spurs are now up to… wait for it… 12th! 15th is a thing of the past – for a week or so at least. Champions League positions remain 13 points away from the Lilywhites, but Postecoglou will be hoping to see his side at least climb up the table and get some good form under their belt in time for the Europa League push. With so many players returning, don’t be surprised to see a whole lot of rotation from Ange over the coming weeks.