Recent seasons have seen Tottenham Hotspur knocking of the big four sides in Chelsea, their North London rivals Arsenal plus both United and City from Manchester, with two fifth places and a sixth in the last three years but with manager Mauricio Pochettino having unearthed the find of last season in Harry Kane, who netted 21 goals in his first full season, are the Londoners capable of stepping over the threshold and into the top four?
Last Season:
The main talking point from White Hart Lane last season was the introduction of the 20 year old Harry Kane into the first team squad as the striker finished the second highest goalscorer in the Premier League with 21 goals and 31 in all competitions. This is the highest total for a Tottenham player since Gary Lineker netted 35 in all competitions in the 1991/92 season. The most impressive thing about this is that it came in a season of change for the North London side as they appointed Southampton boss Pochettino as their manager after having André Villas-Boas and Tim Sherwood in charge at different times the previous season. The Argentine manager saw the return of free flowing and attacking football for the club and took them to the Capital One Cup Final, but will the new season see a return to the top four and book a spot in the Champions League for the 2016/17 campaign?
2015/16 EPL Preview:
If Tottenham are to improve this season they will first need to improve on their defensive solidarity as, while they recorded the fifth highest amount of goals scored last season, they had the worst defensive record of the top 13 teams in the Premier League during the 2014/15 campaign. They conceded 53 goals last season which is the same as relegated Burnley and two worse than Hull City who were also relegated. However, Pochettino has identified this as a key area of work for his side and his early signings have filled defensive positions so are Tottenham fans in for another season of improvement and rising up the end of season table?
Ins and Outs:
Kevin Wimmer – The 22 year old Austrian central defender was the first signing for Tottenham as he moves from German Bundesliga side FC Koln in a £4.3m move. The young 6ft 2in defender was a regular for Koln as they were promoted back to the Bundesliga and he caught the eye in this season as well as for his performances in the top flight too. He has been capped twice by his country and while he is a regular for the U21 Austrian side he has been included in all of the Euro 2016 qualification match squads, although he is yet to play in this campaign.
Kieran Trippier – Although Burnley were relegated from the Premier League last season it was their struggles with putting the ball in the net that was the main cause of this. They were a well drilled side defensively and the 24 year old Trippier was one of the standout players at the back for Sean Dyche’s side. This prompted Mauricio Pochettino to move for the right back to boost his defence and landed the former Man City trainee for £3.5m.
The club have released eight players that are unfancied by Pochettino, although none of them have made the first team previously. The only major player departing the club is 44 year old American goalkeeper Brad Friedel who is hanging up his gloves after four seasons at the club. However, with Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm between the sticks the team has more than enough quality to cover the departure of the veteran shot stopper.
Tottenham EPL Preview Bets:
With Tottenham so close to the top four positions over the last three seasons there is plenty of value to be had on the North Londoners in the betting markets and we’re taking a look at some of the best value bets with online bookmaker Betfair.com.
According to Betfair, Tottenham Hotspur are the sixth favourite to take the 2015/16 Premier League title behind the big four and Liverpool but just ahead of Mauricio Pochettino’s old side Southampton. They can be backed at odds of 101.00 to win the Betfair Sportsbook to win the league for the first time since 1961.
This seems unlikely to happen with all of the sides around them at the top of the league strengthening over the summer too, but if you fancy Tottenham breaking into the top four sides in England this coming season then you can get some value on them at odds of 8.00 to do this, while the safer bet is for them to secure a top six finish in the 2015/16b Premier League at odds of 1.44 at Betfair.com.
Betfair are also offering plenty of value on the young England hitman Harry Kane to finish as the top goalscorer in the Premier League for this forthcoming season @ 15.00. He netted 21 goals last season to finish second to Sergio Aguero and the 21 year old is third in the betting behind Aguero and Chelsea’s Diego Costa but he’ll need to pick himself up from his end of season slump that saw just two goals in the final two months of the league.
Our favourite pick from this selection of odds is Tottenham to finish in the top six at odds of 1.44 for a reasonable return on the funds staked, but if Mauricio Pochettino can continue to improve things at the back and if Kane has another 20+ goal season in the league then there is plenty to be gained in a risk/reward sense in backing Tottenham to finish in the top four at odds of 8.00 with Betfair.com.