Speaking on a recent episode of the Last Word On Spurs podcast, Ricky Sacks discussed Tottenham Hotspur’s defence and whether or not he believes it will hold up over the club’s next few fixtures in the league.
Jose Mourinho’s side has highly impressed in the Premier League so far this term, with their only loss at present coming in their opening fixture of the season against Everton.
Since then, Spurs have gone seven games unbeaten in the league, a run which has included a 6-1 thrashing of Manchester United as well as an impressive 5-2 victory away at Southampton.
The north London side currently sits second in the Premier League on 17 points, a single point off of table-toppers Leicester City, while boasting the second-best attacking record in the league with 19 goals scored, in addition to having the joint-best defensive record with just nine goals conceded.
However, the Spurs backline was one topic of conversation on a recent episode of the Last Word On Spurs podcast, in which Ricky Sacks questioned how Mourinho’s defence will hold up over their upcoming fixtures against the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool – all of whom Spurs face in their next five league games.
He said: “I still think we’re going to need, in January, to look at that area. [Milan] Skriniar, for me, if he’s available at a decent price, he’d be the man I’d bring in.
“Look at the point now where we are in this international break, we’re in a fantastic position. But I think what’s to come is the ultimate test of Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld’s partnership as centre-backs, can they withhold what’s coming? Can they withhold Chelsea, Manchester [City and] Liverpool?
“I think it’s a very, very difficult act for those guys to follow with these games coming. The players [they] are going to be coming up against, the likes of [Raheem] Sterling, [Mohamed] Salah [and Timo] Werner at Chelsea – he’s in formidable form.
“There’s a lot of challenges yet to overcome. So, it’ll be interesting to see, after the international break, how we get on.”
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TIF Thoughts on Ricky Sacks’ comments regarding the Tottenham Hotspur defence…
From Sacks’ comments, it is clear that the podcaster is slightly concerned about the prospect of Tottenham’s upcoming opponents, and does not appear to hold a great deal of faith for the club’s defenders coming up against the likes of Sterling, Salah and Werner.
Interestingly, Spurs have been linked with a potential move for Milan Skriniar who reportedly has a price tag of €60m (£53.8 million) on his head.
While it is indeed true that Tottenham have the joint-best defensive record in the league thus far, they share this crown with a number of teams, including Leicester, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester City.
Furthermore, Spurs have only managed to keep two clean sheets in the league thus far, against West Bromwich Albion, who are currently sitting in 18th place in the league having only scored six goals, and Burnley, who are currently 19th in the table having only scored three goals.
As such, it would appear that Sacks could well have a point in saying the Spurs defence will be facing a different type of challenge over their next few fixtures.