Heung Min Son and James Maddison scored a goal in each half as Tottenham returned to the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 win over Fulham on Monday night.
Here are five things we learned from the game.
MADDI-SON is a deadly duo. The James Maddison and Heung Min Son double act have really hit the ground running since Harry Kane’s departure, with 16 goal involvements (goals or assists) between them. With Kevin De Bruyne injured, Maddison is the best number 10 in the Premier League right now, second only to the Belgian in terms of goal involvements from midfield (83 compared to De Bruyne’s 101) since he made his debut. And with Son also continuing to break goalscoring records and assisting too, the pair are a huge reason why Spurs are top of the table.
Embed from Getty ImagesANGE POSTECOGLOU is the most successful managerial newcomer to the Premier League, with 23 points from his first 9 games. Spurs are still unbeaten in the league under the Aussie, who has overseen seven wins and two draws since taking over from Antonio Conte. The former Celtic boss is not interested in records though – in classic understated fashion he says this flying start is down to the hard work of his players.
GUGLIELMO VICARIO is looking like a bargain at £17m. Spurs were in advanced talks to sign David Raya to replace Hugo Lloris, but baulked at Brentford’s £40m asking price and instead turned to the little-known Empoli stopper, who had no Premier League or European experience. Despite a dodgy start in his first two pre-season games on tour in Asia, the Italian keeper has looked assured since arriving in England and made three fine saves to keep Fulham at bay. He has also been promoted to the Italy senior squad and was on the bench at Wembley last week, while Raya is looking increasingly shaky at Arsenal, where he is loan.
POSTECOGLOU is a tough taskmaster too. Despite going back to the top of the league with another win and another clean sheet, Tottenham can still improve, according to their manager, who said he was ‘disappointed’ with their second half drop-off that allowed Fulham to create enough chances to win if they had been more clinical. But Tottenham’s defence is made of sterner stuff these days and with Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven developing into a formidable centre-back pairing, held out.
CARLOS VINICIUS is no Aleksandr Mitrovic. Marco Silva has turned to the Brazilian who spent a season on loan at Spurs once Mitrovic left for the Saudi Pro League, but he is nothing like the same goal threat. Mitrovic used to bang in goals for fun, and you would have bet on him putting away at least one or two of the chances Fulham were presented with once Tottenham substituted key players late in the game. Silva admitted his players need to be more calm in one v one situations, and goalscoring may be their weakness unless they act in the January transfer window.
