Football writer Alex Keble assesses each Premier League club and their prospects for the 2024/25 season.
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur are the Premier League’s great enigma. We have no idea what to expect of them.
For the first 10 matches of last season they looked unplayable as Ange Postecoglou’s frantic high-stakes football caused heads to spin and briefly gave Spurs fans hope of a title push.
But the effects wore off and what was admirable ambition soon became kamikaze football.
Starting from late October Spurs won 40 points from 28 matches, the ninth-most in the Premier League.
This will be a defining season for Postecoglou. Either Spurs re-emerge as the league’s entertainers - or things unravel.
Performance last season
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +45 | 82 |
| 4 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +15 | 68 |
| 5 |
Spurs
TOT
|
38 | +13 | 66 |
| 6 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
38 | +14 | 63 |
| 7 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
38 | +23 | 60 |
FA Cup: Fourth round
EFL Cup: Second round
Last five seasons
| Season | Premier League position |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 6th |
| 2020/21 | 7th |
| 2021/22 | 4th |
| 2022/23 | 8th |
| 2023/24 | 5th |
Best Premier League finish
Second: 2016/17
See: More about Spurs' history
Season aims
Having qualified for the UEFA Champions League just once in the last five seasons Postecoglou’s objective is clear.
Spurs fell just three points short last season and fifth could be a Champions League spot in 2024/25, making qualification very much an attainable goal.
Beyond that, we need to see Postecoglou’s tactics refreshed and finessed following accusations that he lacks a Plan B.
Key transfers
The arrival of Dominic Solanke from AFC Bournemouth is a significant one for the north London club.
Timo Werner returns on another loan, while Archie Gray joins from Leeds United - there is excitement about the 18-year-old’s potential.
Swedish central midfielder Lucas Bergvall has also joined and showed signs of promise in pre-season.
Spurs' key transfers so far
| Player | Transfer Type | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Lucas Bergvall |  Transfer In |
Leeds United |
| Timo Werner | Loan In |
Leipzig |
| Archie Gray | Transfer In |
Leeds United |
| Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg |  Loan Out |
Marseille |
| Dominic Solanke | Transfer In |
AFC Bournemouth |
See: Clubs' summer 2024 transfers
Tactics
Postecoglou’s wild and wonderful football is predicated upon double under-lapping full-backs and urgently-vertical possession football.
It means Spurs are hugely entertaining when pushing forward in numbers, although at times the way their attacks are funnelled out to the wingers and moved back inside to the full-backs is a little predictable.
That has allowed opponents to work out how to nullify the approach and find counter-attacking opportunities behind Postecoglou’s high line.
Injury report
| Player | Injury | Latest updates |
|---|---|---|
| Fraser Forster | Foot | - |
| Richarlison | - | Details |
| Ashley Phillips | Knock | Details |
Pre-season results and fixtures
17 July Hearts 1-5 Spurs Report
20 July QPR 0-2 Spurs Report
27 July Vissel Kobe 2-3 Spurs Report
31 July Team K League 3-4 Spurs Report
3 Aug Spurs 1-2 Bayern Munich Report
10 Aug v Bayern Munich (H) Details
What the manager says
Ange Postecoglou: “You can see the growth. I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I really feel last year we laid some really strong foundations in terms of some underlying core values that I saw from the first day we got back into pre-season.”
Best XI (4-2-3-1)
Guglielmo Vicario; Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie; Pape Sarr, Yves Bissouma; Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Son Heung-min; Dominic Solanke.
Opening PL fixtures
Kits
See: More details at Spurs' online store