In many ways, it would be easy to raft Tottenham Hotspur. Between their endless injury crisis and an impressive ability to abandon the points of the winning positions, their 14th place in the Premier League means that they embody the oppressed more than that they would usually do it against Liverpool on Thursday. However, they find themselves in the unlikely position to wear an advantage towards the second stage of the EFL Cup semi-finals (you can watch the action live Paramount +) – and just 90 minutes from their first cup final in four years.
In the middle of the chaos of their season, Spurs gave Liverpool only his second defeat of the season a month ago with a close victory of 1-0 in the first leg, giving them the surprise to Anfield. The margin to a goal is not a safety net, although a place in the semi-finals alone presents the opportunity for Tottenham to find the silver lining in their otherwise dull season. As poor as their league position, the Spurs have succeeded very well in their cutting competitions – not only are they at a distance from the EFL Cup final, but they finished in the fourth place in the league phase of the UEFA Europa League and went to the next round of the FA Cup.
Tottenham’s difficult season surprisingly transformed them into a team that can – and should prioritize cup competitions, a decision that would not only make the disappointing results of this season feel like a reflection afterwards. If the Spurs prioritize silverware and really cross the finish line, the drought of the trophy which followed this team as a shadow could finally end, making the game of Thursday a game almost produced for their season.
How to watch and dimensions
- Date: Thursday February 6 | Time: 3. PM
- Location: Anfield – Liverpool, England
- Stream live: Paramount +
- Odds: Liverpool -425; Draw +600; Tottenham Hotspur +900
Can a trophy make the spurs season a success?
The EFL Cup is not exactly the most prestigious trophy that Tottenham can win this season – it is always the Europa League, which can be the European competition of the secondary club, but which is always a difficult tournament in its own right. For a team like Spurs, whose trophy drought is well documented, any trophy means something and it would mean a lot, not only because it would end 17 years for a title.
Tottenham is perfectly median at this stage of the season, stuck in the ordinary part of the classification where qualification for European competition is probably out of the question and relegation is unlikely. The ideal way to animate a disappointing season is to win a trophy, in particular the one who would reserve the champion a place in the Channel of the eliminations of the League of the UEFA Conference.
He could also provide new confidence to the group, because the final of March 16 is delivered with two months of play on the calendar. The lifting of the EFL Cup would probably provide a much appreciated moral boost, which can only help the first league spurs to stand so much, but could be useful if they do deep races in the Europa League and the FA Cup . In fact, winning the EFL Cup could be a general rehearsal for bigger things to come, and this is particularly true when their injured players are starting to return to fitness.
For the Manager Ange PosteCoglou in particular, a trip to the Wembley stadium next month and a winner medal is accompanied by an additional advantage – he would be right about his statement in September that he “always wins things during his second year “.
Tottenham’s challenges against Liverpool
The advantages of a trip to Wembley are obvious to Tottenham, but all this comes with the obvious warning – they still have 90 minutes in front of them against a Liverpool team at home, and an advance of a goal leaves no Place for error. One could suggest, for the umpteenth time this season, PostCoglou adopts a pragmatic approach with a place in an online cup final, but that forces the question: what is exactly a pragmatic approach in these circumstances?
Defensive resilience is not a bad idea, but overestimation on the back line may not be paid in the long term. The shape of Mohamed Salah alone means that the reds are difficult to bet against every day of the week, and true to train for Tottenham this season, they will be again without important players in the back line. The central back of the first choice, Cristian Romero, always treats an injury to the hamstrings and Postoccoou has chosen not to risk the partner of Romero, Micky Van de Ven, when he returns from his own problem of the hamstrings. Radu Dragusin, meanwhile, torn his LCA last week, so Tottenham will probably give Kevin to dance his debut of the new signature and the twinra alongside the veteran Ben Davies.
In fact, a balance that guarantees that spurs’ attack can create chances may be the best way to follow – and is actually suitable for postcoglou. This is actually a strategy that the manager has successfully used this season, despite the accusations that he is tactically inflexible. Manchester City’s 4-0 routing 4-0 Tottenham in November is also a perfect example. They gave up possession to City and took only nine shots, but put seven on the target and generated 2.51 goals expected, finding a means of mixing the opportunities for goals even without openly prioritizing their attack. It is essentially the lesson of the victory of the 4-0 Aggigates of Newcastle United on Arsenal in the other semi-final of the EFL Cup-the Magpies may have won a 2-0 victory in the first leg in the Wednesday match, but they chose not to rest on their laurels and managed to score two additional goals on one of the best offenses in Europe.
Spurs may or may not be favored to go to the lead on Thursday, but in the middle of an imperfections season, they are surprisingly well placed to win a major achievement. The task for PostCoglou and the company is therefore not to waste it and add a new layer of acidity to an unpleasant season.
