Leeds United vs. Tottenham Hotspur Premier League Preview
Three wins in three has Tottenham Hotspur suddenly looking like a legitimate contender in the Premier League - at least when it comes to getting back into the European places. That bar might not seem like a glorious achievement, but after the last couple years, it sure would be nice to be just outside the top four instead of just outside the relegation zone… While Coventry and Palace are not exactly the country's elite, neither are Ipswich, Sunderland, and Fulham, who are all coming up soon, giving Spurs a great chance to keep on winning.
This Saturday also provides that opportunity, as Leeds United has gathered just three points from its past five matches after starting the season with eight points in the first four matchweeks. Roberto De Zerbi is surely feeling a bit more vindicated right now as his club is seemingly clicking into gear, and a fourth straight victory would continue this stark turnaround.
This is not a must-win match by any means, but Spurs would love to keep the momentum going, especially with the international break upcoming. It is shocking how much the vibes can change in a month.
Match Details Date: Saturday, November 7 Time: 7:30 am ET, 12:30 pm UK Location: Elland Road, Leeds TV: USA Network (US), TNT Sports 1 (UK) Spurs won at Elland Road last season with Mathys Tel and Mohammed Kudus scoring in a 2-1 win, back when hopes were still actually somewhat high. The demeanor was drastically different when the sides met again in North London; it was Tel who scored again, but also conceded a penalty, resulting in a draw that kept Tottenham just two points ahead of West Ham with two matches to go.
Optimistically still settling There are a lot of things to celebrate over the past four matches: the bright start and resilient finish against United, excellent strikes against Coventry, a memorable win at Chelsea, and the smothering of Palace. As great as those bright spots are, this club has still not really shown an ability to consistently put everything together over an entire match, let alone multiple fixtures.
Though this can be frustrating - and certainly was when Spurs were dropping points - the glass-half-full view would acknowledge the positive trend this club is steadily continuing on. As odd as it is to say, Tottenham is a team in form, and is seeing its efforts turn to into points despite ample room for improvement still present, especially in the final third.
Leeds will be another test in this area, surrendering just five goals in the past five contests and owning one of the best defensive records in the league. On the flip side, Leeds has scored only twice during this span, which should give the visitors plenty of confidence being aggressive and opportunistic in the final third.
Tottenham has arguably been more unlucky than lucky, which means regression to the mean could yield good things. Pessimistically far from clinical Of course, that regression is not exactly a sure thing.
Those outside-the-box strikes in the Coventry match look more like one-offs than repeatable options, despite multiple attempts since then. While it is great to have players with willingness to take on opponents like Mohammad Kudus, Savio, Mathys Tel, and Omar Marmoush, dribbling seems like more of their skill than shooting.