Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur capitalized on Chelsea and Liverpool’s draw to move closer to the top three by toppling Huddersfield Town 2:0 at the John Smith’s Stadium. Two goals from star striker Harry Kane helped the visitors to a comfortable win against a lowly Huddersfield side who are yet to secure a victory this season.
The win sees Tottenham move to fourth in the league table, trailing third-placed Chelsea by two points whilst leaving their opposition at the bottom of the table. However, the Lilywhites should be aware of Arsenal’s stunning form as the Gunners are now level on points with their arch-rivals.
In the meantime, here are three takeaways from the match.
Huddersfield’s lack of offensive thrust
One of the key reasons behind Tottenham’s convincing win should be attributed to Huddersfield’s lack of offensive thrust. They were yet to score in their previous five home matches coming into this game and that run continued when they once again failed to trouble the Tottenham defence this weekend.
Though in fairness, their attack did look much more dangerous than it had in the game against Leicester City. However, it wasn’t enough to worry a highly disciplined and organized Spurs defence who comfortably saw off their attacking endeavours.
The time is surely ticking for coach David Wagner who needs a miraculous upturn in form if they are to avoid a relegation dogfight.
Quality in depth
There has been incessant talk and at times criticism of Spurs’ apparent lack of depth. And on the occasion, the pundits have been mildly forgiving, the quality of their bench has been called into question and pointed out as a reason for the lack of silverware won by the club.
But things have been changing, slowly but surely. Now with the likes of Lamela, Moura, Wanyama, Llorente, Sissoko and Davies, Pochettino has a more than competent squad to choose from and fall back in times like these. A Tottenham win or a lineup without Eriksen and Alli would have seemed alien a while back. But now, with the re-emergence of Lamela and the form of Moura, Kane has an added stream of creativity.
And in midfield and defence, despite the forced substitution of Dembele and Vertonghen, Tottenham had no issues in replacing them and comfortably ensuring a clean-sheet and closing out the game. This surely bodes well for the future.
Harry Kane’s return of form
One of the biggest positives to take from this game, for Tottenham, will be the return to form of Harry Kane. Indeed, the English international had a rusty start (by his own standards) to this campaign, scoring only three goals in six matches, coming into this fixture.
But he showed exactly what he’s capable of by producing an excellent performance against Huddersfield, scoring two first-half goals, including a confident penalty. This performance will surely serve as a huge confidence booster for Kane, who will undoubtedly be one of the players to look forward to when Tottenham host Barcelona on Wednesday.
