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If Tottenham Hotspur win at Fulham this evening, they will reclaim a place in the top four, albeit, should Aston Villa win at home to West Ham United a day later that fourth-placed grab will be fleeting for Ange Postecoglou’s side.
But such frivolities do not matter at this stage, not even with next week commencing the final ten-match stretch of Spurs’ campaign.
What matters is that Tottenham are firing into form ahead of the business end, rekindling the fluency and fire that was at the club’s core of the impressive early-season efforts.
Tottenham also have a game in hand on Villa, who they defeated 4-0 last weekend, and while James Maddison, Brennan Johnson and captain Heung-min Son enjoyed the standout showings, Timo Werner’s goalscoring cameo calls for his return to the starting line-up.
Timo Werner’s Spurs career so far
Werner moved to Tottenham on loan from RB Leipzig in January, with a £15m buy option inserted in the deal, and he has impressed so far, scoring two goals and supplying two assists from seven Premier League matches, starting five of those.
Lightning-quick and an adept dribbler, the 28-year-old has opened up a new dimension to Postecoglou’s attack and has left Tottenham with options despite the recent knee injury suffered by Richarlison, with Son slotting in at centre-forward.
Benched last time out, Werner entered the fray late on and fired a satisfying late strike to make it goals in consecutive matches.
Given that Son will be starring up top at Craven Cottage on Saturday, it might be worth recalling Werner to the starting line-up on the left flank.
That would mean that the mercurial Johnson would need to move, and while Dejan Kulusevski occupies the right side of the Spurs attack, Postecoglou might be inclined to boldly ditch the Sweden international and flank his team with fleet-footed dynamism.
Why Dejan Kulusevski could be dropped
Kulusevski is one of the most underrated attacking midfielders in English football and is so important for Tottenham, with Sky Sports’ Jamie Weir among those to gush over his qualities.
The reporter said: “Dejan Kulusevski really is a special special player. Works so hard, covers every blade of grass. Hell of an engine on him, and just so much heart.”
This season in the Premier League, the 23-year-old has posted six goals and three assists from 24 starts, completing 82% of his passes and averaging 2.1 key passes, 1.8 tackles, 4.0 ball recoveries and 1.6 dribbles per game, as per Sofascore, only benched once all term.
So why would it be worth benching him against Fulham? Well, Kulusevski endured an ineffectual opening at Villa Park one week ago, with football.london’s Alasdair Gold heralding his second-half display after a ‘poor’ start, ultimately handing him an 8/10 score.
Werner must start on the left, allowing Johnson to feature from the right and continue his prolific run of form, with the shifting of the system not a bad move to keep things fresh either.
Brennan Johnson: Past 6 PL Matches |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Fixture |
Result |
Minutes played |
Goals |
Assists |
Aston Villa (A) |
4-0 win |
88′ |
1 |
0 |
Crystal Palace (H) |
3-1 win |
27′ |
0 |
2 |
Wolves (H) |
2-1 loss |
19′ |
0 |
0 |
Brighton (H) |
2-1 win |
28′ |
1 |
0 |
Everton (A) |
2-2 draw |
64′ |
0 |
0 |
Brentford (H) |
3-2 win |
45′ |
1 |
0 |
Sourced via Transfermarkt |
Kulusevski did win just three of his 11 contested duels against Aston Villa, and while he is unquestionably a talented player, Johnson has been in sublime form of late and the Welshman can’t really do much more to warrant a start.
Spurs’ ‘engine’ could also be welcomed after the break if need be, with his skills certainly fit to supercharge his team if an extra hand is needed in the latter phase of the fixture.