Mauricio Pochettino’s men have been perfect away from home so far this season, beating Newcastle United, Everton and West Ham United on the road to amass nine points from nine. That will give Spurs confidence ahead of this weekend’s trip to the Kirklees Stadium, although they will also be keen to turn around their home form as soon as possible – whereas they have a 100 per cent record on their travels, Tottenham are yet to win a game at Wembley in the Premier League. The north Londoners are still just five points off the top of the table, though, and will be keen to close that gap on Saturday.
Huddersfield are ticking along nicely following their promotion to the top tier via the play-offs earlier this year. David Wagner’s side began the season with back-to-back wins against Crystal Palace and Newcastle United, before drawing with Southampton, suffering a defeat by West Ham and picking up two more points in meetings with Leicester and Burnley. Town therefore find themselves in the healthy looking position of eighth place after six matches, although Wagner and his coaching staff will be fully aware that there is still an awfully long way to go this term. Picking up a positive result against Tottenham would undoubtedly boost the confidence of everyone associated with the club, though.
Christian Eriksen has been suffering with illness but should be ready to play in Yorkshire, but Mousa Dembele (ankle), Serge Aurier (suspension), Victor Wanyama (knee), Danny Rose (knee) and Erik Lamela (hip) are all definite absentees. Pochettino will probably stick with three at the back here, with Davinson Sanchez continuing with Jan Vertonghen to his left and Toby Alderweireld to his right, while Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies will start at wing-back. Moussa Sissoko has been in good form and will again deputise for Wanyama and Dembele in the centre of the park, while Son Heung-min will be ready to step in should Eriksen miss out on a place in the starting XI. Up front, Harry Kane will be looking to build on a fantastic run which has seen him score nine goals in his last five outings in all competitions.
Huddersfield will have to make do without Colin Quaner (calf), Danny Williams (foot), Steve Mounie (heel), Kasey Palmer (hamstring) and Jon Stankovic when they lock horns with Spurs this weekend. Despite the fact they will be playing in front of their own supporters at the Kirklees Stadium, Town are likely to cede possession and focus on causing Spurs problems on the counter-attack, with an emphasis on pressing in midfield and springing forward at speed. Central midfielder Aaron Mooy has been excellent in the opening weeks of the campaign and will again be vital to the Terries ahead of their biggest test of the season so far.
This could be a cagey game in the opening stages, particularly as Huddersfield’s matches tend not to feature a great deal of shots or goals. It would probably be wise to put some money on Spurs coming out on top, though, perhaps in a game featuring fewer than 2.5 goals in total. Another option is backing an away win to nil, while Alli – despite his wavering form of late – will get into good scoring positions and could be an astute choice to find the back of the net anytime.
.png)
