Tottenham Hotspur excelled in their 4-0 win over Manchester City at the weekend and as part of their ongoing search for consistency, they take on Roma in the Europa League on Thursday.
By Kaustubh Pandey
Postecoglou vs. Ranieri
Spurs obliterated City on Saturday and could have easily scored more goals. Dejan Kulusevski sparkled, as Ange Postecoglou‘s side executed their plan to perfection, pressing City high up the pitch and playing through their press at will.
In contrast, their Europa League opponents for the week are the crisis team in Serie A this season. We’ve yet to reach the mid-way point and Roma are already on to their third manager of the campaign, with Claudio Ranieri coming out of retirement and returning to the dugout in time to oversee their dull 1-0 loss at Napoli over the weekend.
Ivan Jurić was sacked before the international break and there is now expected to be a stylistic change in how the Giallorossi play, as Jurić’s brand of football revolved around high-pressing and man marking. Ranieri is more pragmatic and it was seen in the defeat to the Partenopei.
Roma look for renewed hope
The Giallorossi have won only once in their last five games in all competitions and frustratingly have dropped points in three of their Europa League games so far – drawing with Union St Gilloise and Athletic Club, and beaten by Swedish side Elfsborg.
They do have a win over Dynamo Kiev on the books but that performance was indicative of the Roman club’s struggle for a new identity this season. It also defines their struggles under the Friedkins, who’s ownership group have been protested against by the club’s supporters every second day.
Perhaps, an identity is what Ranieri can actually add to a side quickly. Jurić could have too, if he was given time but patience ran low and the expectation from the club would be to play a low-block in a back three under Ranieri.
New signing Matías Soulé hasn’t quite settled in yet but it is new striker Artem Dovbyk who appears to be gaining in confidence after a slow start.
Top scorer in LaLiga last season, Dovbyk has four league goals in Serie A so far and his presence upfront attracts defenders, as the Ukrainian thrives on quality link-up with those around him and can be a crucial weapon on the break, especially if Paulo Dybala starts alongside him.
Spurs want attack to thrive
A case can be made of the fact that Spurs could have scored more goals against Galatasaray, but Postecoglou has this incredible insistence on putting his attacking strengths on show, even if it puts the defensive worries on the backseat. It is risky but when it works, it works brilliantly.
They have an unpredictable side to them, but Spurs have scored the most goals per game in the Premier League this season, while also conceding the third lowest number of goals per game.
It clearly shows how entertaining a side they are and considering the raw numbers, they could well turn out to be pretty good at the end of the season.
Having said that, both Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero remain out – as they were against City. Rodrigo Bentancur remains suspended and this will lead to Postecoglou having to adapt the line-up for the clash against Roma.
Dybala boost for Roma
Reports in Italy have suggested that Dybala is fit and he could start the game. He has been put in a couple of good performances against Tottenham in the past and Roma will rely on him.
Mats Hummels, who has suffered so far in Rome, could also start and so could Mario Hermoso. Soule and Lorenzo Pellegrini are also in contention to start.
As far as Spurs are concerned, Guglielmo Vicario is out for the next few weeks. Fraser Forster will start in goal and Lucas Bergvall is also expected to feature again. And after being benched against City, both Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson are likely to start.
Prediction
This will depend entirely on how well Ranieri has drilled his new side in the few short days he’s been at the club, and whether they can stop Postecoglou’s in-form attackers. But with Spurs riding the wave of that display against City, we can’t see beyond a home win for the London side.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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