With just a few hours to the start of the 2023/24 Premier League season, we continue with our preview of the ‘Big six’ ahead of the new season. In this particular article, we focus on Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham had a dismal 2022/23 campaign, as they finished eighth in the league table. They will not be involved in any European competition and will be desperate to make amends this year.
Antonio Conte was relieved of his duties towards the end of last season. To replace him, Tottenham brought in former Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou who will look to get them firing on all cylinders once again.
Pre season
Spurs played four games in preparation for the upcoming season. They won two, against Lion City Sailors and Shakhtar Donestk who they beat by a similar score -5-1. They lost as many, losing 3-2 to West Ham before falling to Barcelona 4-2.
In all those games, they played free-flowing attacking football, a style that already has Spurs fans excited about the new season.
Transfer Activity
Their first summer moves were to complete permanent transfers for loan players Dejan Kulusevski and Pedro Porro from Juventus and Sporting CP respectively. They did that, and then also signed goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from Serie A side Empoli. Those additions were followed by the capture of James Madison from Leicester, Manor Solomon from Donestk and Mick Van de Ven from Wolfsburg.
Vicario’s arrival will offer competition to club captain Hugo Lloris for the No.1 shirt, although the Frenchman wants to leave before the season starts.
Solomon, Kulusevski and Madison will add on Spurs’ attack that already has Son and Richarlison, and let’s add, the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, Harry Kane. He seems likely though to leave the club for Bayern Munich.
Despite those six signings, spurs still need a quality central defender who can partner with Cristian Romero at the back and tighten up the defense that conceded 63 goals in the league last season.
If Kane is sold, Spurs will need to bring in another reliable forward to score goals for them as Richarlison has struggled to find the back of the net since he was captured from Everton.
What to expect in the upcoming season
Spurs will begin the season with an aim of finishing in the top-four and at least winning a domestic trophy. However, should they lose Kane, it will be difficult for them.
A change of playing style might also affect them at the start of the season as the past Spurs managers ( Conte and Jose Mourinho) were accustomed to a far different approach
With all that said, Spurs should be able to perform better than last season with the squad they currently have at their disposal.
Key fixtures
The North London side will begin their campaign on Sunday 13th August against Brentford. After that, they will host Manchester United at home as they hope to make a good start.
September will be a challenging month for them. They will take on Arsenal and Liverpool in back-to-back games.
In December, they will battle Manchester City, West Ham and Newcastle United in consecutive matches.
Spurs will also have a difficult end of the season as they will face Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool in a space of two weeks in the months of April and May.
