Tottenham Hotspur got off to the perfect start in the Champions League last night, beating Marseille 2-0 at home in their first group stage match.
Let’s take a look at the five things we learned:
Tottenham not at their best – It was once again a case of Tottenham not being at their best last night, although, once again, it was also a case of Tottenham doing enough to get all three points. I think Spurs need to eventually start playing well consistently in order to keep securing the results though. You can’t keep playing below par and still winning.
Son struggles – Heung-min Son continued to struggle against Marseille last night, continuing a running theme from this season. Although the South Korean had his best game against Fulham at the weekend, normal service resumed on Wednesday night. Son very much had the look of a player who was trying desperately hard to turn his form around. He needs to relax and the goals will come, he’s too good to stay down for long.
Problem for Conte – Before the match, I would have said that Kane, Son, and Kulusevski were the nailed-on front three to play against Man City this weekend. After all, we saw what they did against Pep’s men last season. However, with Richarlison scoring a brace last night, he may be knocking on the door. I can’t see Conte dropping Kulusevski again, so it could be a fight between Son or Rihcarlison on the left.
Right-wing-back fatigue – There is going to come a point, and probably soon, where Conte will have to start someone other than Emerson Royal at right-wing-back. Emerson has started every single game this season, and with matches coming thick and fast, often every three days, the Brazilian will eventually hit a wall. Conte needs to start filtering Doherty or Spence in a little more to get them up to match pace.
The group table – For those who didn’t catch the other game in the group, Sporting Lisbon managed to defeat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 away from home, with Spurs academy graduate Marcus Edwards grabbing a goal and an assist. That means Spurs are second in the Group D table, behind Sporting on goal difference. Marseille and Frankfurt both have zero points in third and fourth respectively. Spurs have Sporting away up next.
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