Two days ago I promised that I would be reviewing a couple of EPL teams that I felt were the top six clubs in contention for the title (Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Manchester United) and analyze them in readiness for the new league season which is exactly four Saturdays away today.
Today in this series I will review Spurs and predict where they are likely to end up next season if statistics from the past three seasons and the current preseason are anything to go by.
Top Goalscorers and Top Assists (2012/2013)
| PLAYER | GOALS |
| Gareth Bale | 21 |
| Jermain Defoe | 11 |
| Clint Dempsey | 7 |
| Emmanuel Adebayor | 5 |
| Aaron Lennon | 4 |
| Jan Vertonghen | 4 |
| PLAYER | ASSISTS |
| Aaron Lennon | 7 |
| Gareth Bale | 4 |
| Clint Dempsey | 4 |
| Gylfi Sigurdsson | 4 |
| Tom Huddlestone | 4 |
| Kyle Walker | 4 |
CLUB
SUMMARY (2012-2013)
|
G
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
GD
|
GFA
|
GAA
|
PpG
|
Rank and Points
|
||
Home Record
|
19
|
11
|
5
|
3
|
29
|
18
|
11
|
1.53
|
0.95
|
2.00
|
5 38
|
|
Away Record
|
19
|
10
|
4
|
5
|
37
|
28
|
9
|
1.95
|
1.47
|
1.79
|
3 34
|
|
Overall Record
|
38
|
21
|
9
|
8
|
66
|
46
|
20
|
1.74
|
1.21
|
1.89
|
5 72
|
CLUB SUMMARY (2011-2012)
|
G
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
GD
|
GFA
|
GAA
|
PpG
|
Rank and Points
|
|
Home Record
|
19
|
13
|
3
|
3
|
39
|
17
|
22
|
2.05
|
0.89
|
2.21
|
3 42
|
Away Record
|
19
|
7
|
6
|
6
|
27
|
24
|
3
|
1.42
|
1.26
|
1.42
|
4 27
|
Overall Record
|
38
|
20
|
9
|
9
|
66
|
41
|
25
|
1.74
|
1.08
|
1.82
|
4 69
|
CLUB SUMMARY (2010-2011)
|
G
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
GD
|
GFA
|
GAA
|
PpG
|
Rank and Points
|
||
Home Record
|
19
|
9
|
9
|
1
|
30
|
19
|
11
|
1.58
|
1.00
|
1.89
|
6 36
|
|
Away Record
|
19
|
7
|
5
|
7
|
25
|
27
|
-2
|
1.32
|
1.42
|
1.37
|
3 26
|
|
Overall Record
|
38
|
16
|
14
|
8
|
55
|
46
|
9
|
1.45
|
1.21
|
1.63
|
5 62
|
Going by the data above courtesy of espnfc.com, Tottenham Hotspur has been the 5th best club in England over the past 3 seasons when it comes to the English Premier League. They are behind Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea. The same statistics reveal that if the league title was won based on a club's home form, Spurs would have ended up in the 5th, 3rd and 6th positions in the last three seasons; while if it was won by a club's form away from home they would have been placed 4th, 3rd and 3rd in that order.
From the stats, their worst months in the league seasons under review were August, March and April, while their best were May, December and February. In fact, they have collected more points than any other club in May for two seasons in a row now.
Coming to the goals department, winger Gareth Bale has always been their main threat, at least in the past 3 seasons. He has netted 37 goals in total, which is an average of 12 goals per season from the 2010/2011 - 2012/2013 seasons and 15 goals per season in the last two seasons. The team itself won and lost 14 and 6 games respectively with a goal margin of 1 in the past season, while in the 2011/2012 season they won 5 and lost 5 games with the same goal margin. All in all, expect them to win/lose most matches either by a single goal margin or a 2 goals margin next season.
Also, most of their goals have come between the 60th and 76th minutes.
Preseason Results
Date
|
Competition
|
Opposition
|
Venue
|
Score/Kick-Off
|
16 Tue
|
Friendly
|
Swindon
|
The County
Ground
|
1-1
|
19 Fri
|
Friendly
|
Colchester
|
Community
Stadium
|
0-0
|
Tottenham have drawn two of their last preseason games, away to Swindon Town (1-1) and Colchester United (0-0). They have three more preseason friendlies to go before the season kicks off.
Major Signings and Departures
There has been only two major acquisitions for Spurs so far in the transfer window. Paulinho, who earlier on won the Confederations Cup with Brazilian compatriots Oscar and David Luiz, was added to the squad from Corinthians of Brazil for a fee in the region of £17m; while the little-known Andros Townsend arrived from Queens Park Rangers. Both additions were brought in to bolster the Spurs' midfield and so far there hasn't been major departures from Spurs.
 |
| Gareth Bale |
Key Players
Gareth Bale, Kyle Walker, Hugo Lloris, Aaron Lennon, Jermian Defoe and Paulinho.
Final Verdict
If it is true that football statistics can really be used to predict future trends, I can say that Spurs will surely be in contention for the Barclays Premier League's silver trophy. But they are not likely to be among the top shots in what I consider the main contenders in the 2013/2014 English Premier League season. If they want to be taken seriously in the race for the title, making sure that their strikers and midfielders begin to bang in more goals to compliment the hard work of their often dependable backline (they usually don't concede more than a lone goal in matches) should be a priority for the management. In addition to that, the goal scoring burden on Gareth Bale should be eased and I believe that they have started looking into that straight away with the signing of Paulinho.
Another potential clog in Spurs' wheel of progress is their home form. Like I mentioned earlier, if the league title was won based solely on points gathered at home, Spurs should have ended up 4th last season, behind Manchester United (1st), Arsenal (2nd) and Chelsea (3rd), and ahead of Manchester City (5th). If only they had converted at least one draw to a victory at home they would have leapfrogged Arsenal to fourth place and make it to the qualifying stages of the UEFA Champions League. If these two major problems are addressed, I don't see any reason why Tottenham won't better their 5th place finish last season.
Strong Points
Defence and away form.
Weak Points
Home form and the attack.
Nearest Competitors
Arsenal and Everton.
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