Feature

2024/25 club preview: Tottenham Hotspur

28 Jul 2024
Tottenham

After a promising first season under Ange Postecoglou, can he take Spurs into the Champions League this season?

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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

Premier League

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
View More

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.

Video is currently not available.

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

See: Latest injuries and news

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
Tottenham Hotspur home kit
Tottenham Hotspur away kit

See: More details at Spurs' online store

Where will they finish?

Latest Videos

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