Tottenham analysis: Cause for concern ahead of Arsenal derby as magical night against Real Madrid takes its toll

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Tom Collomosse5 November 2017

Heung-min Son’s second half strike saw a depleted Tottenham side come away from Wembley with three points after a narrow win over Crystal Palace.

Here, Standard Sport’s Tom Collomosse offers his analysis of the game…

Derby doubts

With Toby Alderweireld and Hugo Lloris already doubtful for the north London derby on November 18, Arsenal will have been encouraged to learn of Dele Alli’s hamstring injury that kept him out of the Tottenham team here.

The hero of the 3-1 win over Real Madrid in midweek is set to miss England’s friendlies against Brazil and Germany later this month, and is now facing a race against time to be fit for the match at Emirates Stadium.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images

To make Mauricio Pochettino even more agitated, both Harry Kane and Harry Winks required lengthy spells of treatment during the first half against Palace, with Winks taken off at half-time. Just when Tottenham appeared close to clearing their treatment room, the problems are mounting again.

Gazzaniga keeps fans awake

Paulo Gazzaniga’s last top-flight match was against Tottenham, for Southampton in December 2015, when Spurs won 2-0 at St Mary’s. When the goalkeeper linked up again with Mauricio Pochettino last summer, joining Tottenham as third-choice, he cannot have anticipated making his first Premier League appearance so soon.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images

But with Hugo Lloris (thigh) and Michel Vorm (knee) injured, Pochettino had no choice but to call on the 25-year-old. He made an eccentric start, flapping at Wilfried Zaha’s cross and catching Mamadou Sakho on the head when he could simply have caught the ball. But Gazzaniga redeemed himself with two important saves, from Scott Dann’s header and Andros Townsend’s angled drive. Moments later, he was lucky to escape when his hesitation allowed Zaha to round him, only for the forward to shoot wide of an empty goal. Always involved, Gazzaniga soon made another fine stop to deny Luka Milivojevic.

Flexible forwards

Not only are Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Heung-min Son highly effective attackers, they are nearly as dangerous with their weaker foot as with their stronger. Both Kane and Eriksen are as comfortable taking the ball on their left side as on their right, while Son showed his aptitude by curling in the opening goal from the edge of the penalty area with his left foot.

Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

Son can sometimes look clumsy in possession and makes too many poor decisions, but he delivers when it matters. Already this season the South Korea star has scored important goals against Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool and now Palace. He still does not get into Pochettino’s first-choice XI when all are fit, but what a man to have in reserve.

Madrid win takes its toll

Tottenham got the job done here, but it could have been very different had Zaha been more precise in front of goal. Yet Pochettino should be encouraged by this display, even though Spurs were matched for long periods by Palace, who have collected only four points all season. They were without key players in Alderweireld, Lloris and Alli, switched their wing-backs and were forced to start their third-choice goalkeeper.

They also had to stay focused despite the euphoria of the win over Madrid, which was no easy task. Despite all these disadvantages, Tottenham still managed to take three points, on a day when other clubs at the top of the table were certain to take points from one another. This was not a performance to savour but Spurs now have steel to go with their style.

Rose impresses on Premier League return

After his appearances in the Champions League and League Cup, Danny Rose was finally given a starting spot in a league fixture, nearly 10 months after he sustained a knee injury in a 0-0 draw at Sunderland.

Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

Although still short of peak condition, Rose played well: he was a constant threat from left wing-back and was far more assured in defence than his counterpart on the right flank, Serge Aurier. Ben Davies has made an impressive start to the campaign and remains first choice for now, but if Tottenham are to sustain a challenge both at home and abroad, they need Rose to rediscover the form he was showing during the first half of last season.

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