Tottenham Hotspur’s Top 4 Battle with Arsenal, Squad Against Everton – Everything on the 2018-19 Premier League Finale

It is finally the last matchday of the 2018-19 Premier League season, and despite recent poor performances, Tottenham Hotspur have somehow managed to remain within the top 4 places thanks to the equally poor performances from Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.

Manchester United’s draw against Huddersfield Town on matchday 37 ensured that Spurs can no longer finish below the Red Devils while Arsenal’s draw with Brighton and Hove Albion have boosted Spurs’ chances of a top 4 finish.

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So can Tottenham Hotspur still finish outside of the top 4 after today? Mathematically, yes. Spurs are currently on 70 points, with a goal difference of +28 while rivals Arsenal are on 67 points with a goal difference of +20.

A home defeat for Spurs against Everton and a away victory for Arsenal against Burnley, coupled with a goal swing of 8 will make the worst outcome happen as Arsenal have scored more goals than Spurs, so an equal tally of points and goal difference will see the Gunners leapfrog the Lilywhites.

However, a victory or a draw against the Toffees will ensure that this does not happen and you can be sure that Mauricio Pochettino will be urging his side to go all out at home against Everton.

This will not be easy though as Spurs, having gone through two transfer windows without a single signing, have been plagued with injury concerns and could possible be without 8 players for this final match, namely Harry Kane, Harry Winks, Jan Vertonghen, Davinson Sanchez, Victor Wanyama, Danny Rose, as well as Son Heung Min and Juan Foyth who are suspended.

This leaves Spurs with only one centre-back in Toby Alderweireld, and Pochettino could call upon left-back Ben Davies to fill in as his partner as he did earlier this season while Eric Dier is another option.

Should Davies be called upon the left-back position could be left empty as Danny Rose is injured as well, and young Kyle Walker-Peters could start as he can play both right-back and left-back.

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Fit-again Serge Aurier could start at right-back with the disastrous performances from Kieran Trippier recently.

In central midfield, young Oliver Skipp could start alongside Moussa Sissoko with Luke Amos, Harry Winks and Victor Wanyma doubts. Eric Dier could possibly start but may be left on the bench as a defensive cover.

Kane’s injury and Son’s suspension mean that Lucas Moura could start upfront with Vincent Janssen and Fernando Llorente on the bench as impact substitutes with the latter two not having the speed to deal with the pacey Everton.

Erik Lamela, who is back from injury, could link up with Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen in the attacking midfield role.

On the bench, Kieran Trippier could be on standby along with youngsters Timothy Eyoma and George Marsh.

Despite the severely depleted squad, you can be sure that Spurs will give everything to finish in the top 4, otherwise their Champions League hopes for next season will lie on winning the Champions League finals against Liverpool.

Match Preview: Tottenham Hotspur vs Burnley (Premier League)

After an exciting UEFA Champions League final group stage match which saw Tottenham Hotspur draw with FC Barcelona to secure a spot in the last 16, it is back to Premier League action as Burnley awaits.

Spurs are the favourites to win this match, but a Burnley side pumped up by their win over Brighton & Hove Albion cannot be underestimated.

Burnley beat Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 to snap their winless run

Team Form:

Spurs have won 5 of their last 6 Premier League matches, with the only defeat coming against Arsenal at the Emirates.

On the other hand, Burnley has only won once in their last 6 Premier League matches, but with their winless run finally snapped in the last match against Brighton, Burnley’s fans would be dreaming of bigger things today against Spurs.

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Team News:

Spurs have no fresh injury concerns, with Mousa Dembele, Victor Wanyama, Kieran Trippier, Serge Aurier, Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth on the injury list.

However, the good news is that the latter 4 may come back today or would be closing in on a return with a fitness assessment lined up for them. With the Lilywhites thin on their defence, it would be welcoming to have these defenders back.

Burnley are missing Stephen Ward and Nick Pope, with Steven Defour and Johann Gudmundsson optimistic of a return today or in the near future.

Spurs target, Nick Pope, is out injured

Team Stakes:

With Manchester City losing to Chelsea last week, Spurs have closed the gap to the top to 6 points, and with league leaders Liverpool taking on Manchester United this weekend, any result other than a win for Liverpool should give Spurs the hope of further bridging this gap.

Burnley are 2 points off the relegation zone, and with 18th place Huddersfield Town taking on fellow strugglers Newcastle United (3 points off relegation zone) this weekend, Burnley will be looking for a strong result to leave this party.

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Previous Results:

*Only results from the last 2 seasons are displayed as Burnley was not in the Premier League in the 2015-16 season.

2017-18

Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Burnley (Dele Alli, Chris Wood)

2016-17

Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Burnley (Dele Alli, Danny Rose, Ashley Barnes)

Dele Alli has scored against Burnley in the past 2 seasons

Spurs Predicted Starting Lineup:

With the Carabao Cup against Arsenal next week in mind, Spurs may opt to rest the likes of Danny Rose and Son Heung Min.

Spurs Fan Prediction:

Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Burnley (Harry Kane to score first)

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How Worth it is it to buy each Premier League’s Away and 3rd Kit?

We are now close to one-third of the 2018/19 Premier League season, and for some of you who have eagerly purchased all your club’s kits for this season, you may be left disappointed on match days as the away kit and 3rd kit will hardly feature.

Indeed, when we look at the breakdown of the Premier League fixture (ignoring European competitions, League Cup and FA Cup), the home kit definitely features the most.

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There are 38 matches for each Premier League club in every season, with 19 home games and 19 away games.

This means that the home kit of each club will feature at least 19 times in a Premier League season.

If we assume that each club then dedicate the remaining 19 away games to the away and 3rd kit respectively, the away kit should feature 10 times and the 3rd kit 9 times.

However, that is hardly the case as clubs still prefer to use the home kit for as many away games as they can, especially for derbies and matches against bigger clubs.

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If that is the case, the 3rd kit becomes redundant as the away kit itself will barely be featured, much less the 3rd kit. However, releasing 3 kits every season is profitable for clubs as one extra jersey purchased contributes more revenue.

For this season, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Watford did not release a 3rd kit as they are not in any European competitions and they are the only 2 clubs with a yellow home kit, thus, the colours would not clash with any clubs, and they can just use the away kit against each other.

In the 2015/16 season, Stoke City, then a Premier League club, traveled away to AFC Bournemouth, but as both their home and away kit clashed with Bournemouth’s red and black home kit, Stoke released a one-off white 3rd kit that is not available for purchase, thus, saving some money for their fans.

Stoke City’s 2015/16 season one-off 3rd kit

Therefore, if clubs want to earn money off the 3rd kit from their fans, they should play with each kit several times in that season to ensure that the fans’ money are not wasted.

As of 22 October 2018, before match day 9 between Arsenal and Leicester City, each club would have played at least 10 matches across all competitions:

However, as can be seen, some kits are still yet to feature (Tottenham Hotspur’s away kit, Liverpool’s away kit, Manchester United’s 3rd kit, Arsenal’s 3rd kit, Leicester City’s away kit, Newcastle United’s away kit, Brighton & Hove Albion’s 3rd kit, AFC Bournemouth’s 3rd kit).

Some of the kits that have yet to feature this season may have been used by the club in the pre-season tournaments or friendlies, but fans do not buy their club’s jerseys just for the pre-season.

This is an important point to note as if clubs expect more revenue from jersey sales but do not commit themselves to using them, fans will simply lose confidence and jersey sales for away and 3rd kits may just dwindle.

The kits that are still not used in any competitions yet this season

For clubs such as Liverpool, Arsenal, Leicester City and Newcastle United, the situation is even worse as their home kit is used for 90% and more of their matches played so far this season. That is more than Wolverhampton Wanderers and Watford, which do not even have a 3rd kit.

Among clubs that are participating in European competitions this season, they would have played more matches than other clubs, but yet Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal have only used 2 of their jerseys and have a home kit usage of 75% and more.

There is no excuse for the above mentioned 4 clubs as Manchester City, Chelsea and Burnley have all managed to rotate the use of each jersey, with Manchester City doing so the best with a home kit usage of only 58%.

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To sum up, Premier League clubs are simply not doing enough to repay the support of their fans for buying their jerseys. As a Spurs fan, I remain increasingly disappointed that the club is not using its away kit even on away matches.

If that is the case, fans would simply be better off in buying just the home kit of the club that they support.

Match Preview: Brighton & Hove Albion vs Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League)

Tottenham Hotspur will look to put their losing run behind them as they travel to the Amex Stadium today to face Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League. Brighton is also on a slump at the moment, having just won once this season, a 3-2 win at home against Manchester United.

Tottenham Hotspur Match Record 2018/19 season
1. vs Newcastle (Away): 1-2 (WIN)
2. vs Fulham (Home): 3-1 (WIN)
3. vs Man Utd (Away): 0-3 (WIN)
4. vs Watford (Away): 2-1 (LOSE)
5. vs Liverpool (Home): 1-2 (LOSE)
6. vs Inter Milan (Away): 2-1 (LOSE)

TOT: W = 50%, D = 0%, L=50%

Brighton & Hove Albion Match Record 2018/19 season
1. vs Watford (Away): 2-0 (LOSE)
2. vs Man Utd (Home): 3-2 (WIN)
3. vs Liverpool (Away): 1-0 (LOSE)
4. vs Southampton (Home): 0-1 (LOSE)
5. vs Fulham (Home): 2-2 (DRAW)
6. vs Southampton (Away): 2-2 (DRAW)

BRI: W = 16.7%, D = 33.3%, L = 50%

While Spurs captain Hugo Lloris is still out with a thigh injury, Dele Alli has rejoined training and could be eligible to face Brighton today.

Michel Vorm is likely to remain in goal for today’s match despite being in a matchday squad that has seen Spurs lose 2-1 thrice consecutively. The Dutchman has the trust of Mauricio Pochettino and will be looking to make amends for his mistakes in the previous matches.

This will only be the second time that Spurs face Brighton away in the Premier League, and the sixth time in top flight overall, with the Seagulls earning their first promotion to the Premier League from the 2016/17 EFL Championship. Spurs have only lost to Brighton once in this fixture, in the 1982/83 First Division. That season also saw Brighton relegated to the Second Division.

Coincidentally, the first Spurs player to ever score against Brighton away in top flight is Chris Hughton, the current manager of Brighton.

Spurs Lineup:

Danny Rose appears to have played his way back into Pochettino’s plans, and may start ahead of Ben Davies today. Toby Alderweireld and Kieran Trippier are also expected to start, having been rested against Inter Milan.

Son Heung Min may also drop to the bench to be rested after his packed Asian Games and international duties schedule, with Dele Alli coming back in the starting lineup. Erik Lamela is most likely to be omitted in favour of the in-form Lucas Moura.

SpursFanPrediction: Brighton 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Lucas Moura to score first)