Ex-Spurs Scout reveals what Tottenham must do to beat Fulham, suggests the impact of the Cup defeat
Tottenham News is delighted to welcome aboard our brilliant new columnist Bryan King, the former goalkeeper who spent six years as a senior scout at Spurs and 28 years in total in first-team scouting roles. Bryan also spent eight years on Everton’s recruitment team and 11 years scouting at Aston Villa across two different spells.
Tottenham will look to make it three Premier League wins on the bounce when they host Fulham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday 23 October.
It seems as if Ange Postecoglou can do no wrong in north London at the moment. The Australian has started life in England with back-to-back Manager of the Month awards and is yet to taste defeat in the Premier League.
However, his next test comes against the one side in England who have handed the 58-year-old a defeat this year. It was Fulham who knocked Spurs out of the Carabao Cup via a penalty shoot-out following a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage on 29 August.
With that in mind, ex-Spurs scout Bryan King has been speaking to Tottenham News about Spurs’ upcoming game and detailed what Postecoglou’s men will need to do to overcome this latest hurdle and avenge their cup defeat.
“After scraping a win against Luton Town, I think people have realised that there will be blips throughout the season. However, the 60,000 plus in the stadium will still certainly be expecting Spurs to get a good result.
“Tottenham have got to be on their game, Fulham have shown that they can produce results and for Spurs they will be looking for some revenge after getting knocked out of the Carabao Cup. They will want to put the record straight.
“However, I don’t think the cup game will play on Postecoglou’s mind at all. It was a 1-1 draw in normal time and had that been a league game they would have still gotten a result. It was a little bit of a knock-back for him, but he will be fully focused on the league, he has got a full complement of players and I would certainly expect Tottenham to win this game.
“Fulham aren’t going to come out and attack Tottenham, they will be well-organised and will be looking to hit them on the break. They know that they are going to be under pressure, and the one thing Tottenham must not do is get caught out.
“If Spurs are up for it, I fancy them to win comfortably. It is one of those games where it is as difficult as Tottenham want to make it. They have got to score early and open the game up, the longer it goes 0-0 the harder it gets and the more belief Fulham get.
“Fulham will have a couple of good chances that is for sure, what Spurs must not let them do is score either of them. Against teams like this problems can arise from dead-ball situations, on the break, and as long as they can keep a clean sheet they will always have a chance of getting a result.
“However, I do fancy Tottenham to win by two goals. When you’re talking about a team challenging at the top of the table, these are the games they have got to win.”
Ex-Spurs scout prediction: 2-0
In other Tottenham news, the stats show that Son Heung-min has been more than just a goalscorer for Spurs so far this season.