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Tottenham turn to Wembley wizard Kane for defining week
LONDON, Nov 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Tottenham will be banking on more Harry
Kane heroics at the start of a potentially season-defining week against
Chelsea after their talisman fired England to a dramatic last-gasp victory at
Wembley.
Kane scored the winner at Tottenham’s temporary home last weekend to
relegate Croatia in the Nations League and exact some revenge for England’s
semi-final defeat to the same opponents at the World Cup.
“He is the best goalscorer in the world… his hold-up play, as well as the
goals he brings, is critical,” said England manager Gareth Southgate after
England clinched a place in the Nations League Finals.
“He is so hungry to lead the team even further.”
But while England have built on their progress in Russia, Spurs have
suffered the after-effects of a demanding summer for most of Mauricio
Pochettino’s squad.
Kane is one of just three Spurs players not to have picked up a muscle
injury from Tottenham’s 12-strong World Cup contingent, nine of whom were
involved on the final weekend of the tournament less than a month before the
new season began.
Despite battling fatigue and fitness concerns, added to the uncertainty
over when the club’s new stadium will be finished, Pochettino has admirably
kept Spurs on track for a top-four finish for the fourth straight season.
Maurizio Sarri has rightly earned rave reviews for his 18-game unbeaten
start to life as Chelsea boss. Yet, should Spurs inflict Sarri’s first
defeat, they will leapfrog Chelsea into third, thanks to their impressive
start to the Premier League season.
That run has been built on relentless consistency against the lesser lights
of England’s top tier. By contrast, Tottenham have been found wanting against
better opposition.
Liverpool and Manchester City have already won at Wembley, as have
Barcelona in the Champions League to put Spurs’ chances of reaching the last
16 in serious danger.
– Arsenal date –
After Chelsea, Pochettino’s men must beat Inter Milan in midweek to retain
any hope of Champions League progress, before facing Unai Emery’s rejuvenated
Arsenal for the first time in the North London derby next weekend.
With a good week, Spurs can re-establish themselves as top dogs in London,
having finished above both Arsenal and Chelsea for the first time in 23 years
last season, and move above Inter into second place in Champions League Group
B.
Pochettino has rightly praised his side’s resolve, resilience and spirit in
recent weeks, which contrasts so sharply with Spurs sides of the past,
recently labelled as “spineless and soft” by former Manchester United captain
Gary Neville.
Yet Spurs remain heavily reliant on Kane’s goals.
Despite early season concerns over his own post-World Cup fatigue, the
England captain has scored 10 times in 16 club appearances this season and
only Sergio Aguero, Eden Hazard and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have more than
Kane’s tally of six Premier League goals.
However, when Kane does not score, Spurs struggle. Four of Tottenham’s five
defeats in all competitions have come when the World Cup’s Golden Boot-winner
has failed to find the net.
Spurs teammate Erik Lamela said earlier this season that Kane could not
shoulder the goalscoring burden alone, adding: “All the attacking players
need to score.”
In stretching every sinew to turn home the winner as time was running out
last Sunday, Kane sparked scenes of wild celebration that Southgate said he
had not witnessed since Wembley reopened more than a decade ago.
Now his club needs more moments of Wembley magic to keep them afloat before
they can settle into the comforts of a new home.
BSS/AFP/MRI/0842 hrs