Tottenham Hotspur’s hunt for a permanent successor to Antonio Conte lasted 70 long days, with Ange Postecoglou finally putting Daniel Levy out of his misery back in June after the Spurs boss failed in numerous attempts to attract the likes of Julian Nagelsmann and Arne Slot.
The Australian was by no means the North London side’s first-choice manager this summer and Tottenham fans were nothing short of sceptical when Postecoglou arrived from Celtic, despite the fact he guided the Scottish giants to a treble last season.
However, any doubts surrounding the appointment of the man affectionately known on the terraces of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as ‘Big Ange’ have already been quashed just four games into the season as Spurs have enjoyed a fine start to the 2023-24 Premier League.
We are currently in the first international break of the season, but when the Premier League resumes Tottenham will be looking to build on their fantastic form thus far with a victory over strugglers Sheffield United at home before Postecoglou’s first North London Derby on September 24.
The Gunners are the favourites for the blockbuster showdown in the Arsenal Spurs betting odds, but second-place Tottenham appear to have a fantastic chance of winning at Emirates for the first time since 2018. So, as we count down the days to another explosive renewal of the North London Derby, let’s take a look at how Spurs have fared in the Premier League to this point.
Brentford 2-2 Tottenham
Tottenham opened their campaign with a tricky trip to the Brentford Community Stadium, and the scoreline proved to be a carbon copy of their visit here last season as it ended 2-2 in West London for the second year in a row.
Spurs got off to the perfect start when Cristian Romero headed home James Maddison’s free kick, but the Argentine goalscorer was taken off as there were fears he might have suffered a concussion and Brentford capitalised on his absence in the back four with Bryan Mbeumo converting from the spot before Yoane Wissa made it 2-1 to the hosts.
Maddison’s fantastic debut continued as he set up Emerson Royal’s equaliser on the brink of half-time, but despite a thrilling first half, neither side were able to find a winner in the second 45 minutes and the match ended 2-2 with the spoils shared.
Tottenham 2-0 Manchester United
Postecoglou’s first match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was against Manchester United and the consensus was that Spurs were going to find it difficult against the Red Devils, as Erik Ten Hag’s side were the favourites before kick-off.
Man United slogged to a 1-0 win over Wolves in the opening Monday Night Football of the season, but their fine record on the road against Tottenham — failing to lose in six games dating back to 2019 — perhaps gave them the edge.
Spurs’ poor run against them had to come to an end at stage though, and Postecoglou was the mastermind as a strike from Pape Sarr and an own-goal from Man United defender Lisandro Martinez spurred them on to a 2-0 win.
Bournemouth 0-2 Tottenham
Tottenham’s first excursion out of the capital came on matchday three, as they made the trip down the M3 to Bournemouth. The Cherries surprised everyone last season when they avoided relegation, but they have had a difficult start to this campaign and Spurs have played their part in that with a 2-0 win at the Vitality.
Maddison carried on his quick start to life in a Tottenham jersey by scoring his first goal for the club just 17 minutes into the first half, latching onto Sarr’s pass and cooly slotting past Neto in the Bournemouth goal.
Dejan Kulusevski, whose loan from Juventus was made permanent during the offseason after two solid seasons at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, killed off the tie when he made it 2-0 to the visitors in the 63rd minute.
Burnley 2-5 Tottenham
After crashing out of the EFL Cup on penalties to Fulham and going 1-0 down to Burnley inside the opening five minutes at Turf Moor, some might have thought the wheels were beginning to come off for Spurs.
However, it wasn’t long before Son Heung-min levelled and Romero gave Tottenham the lead just before half-time. Spurs came flying out of the blocks in the second half, with Maddison popping up with another goal before Son notched two more for his hat-trick.
Josh Brownhill got one back for Burnley in the 94th minute, but it was nothing more than a consolation and pressure is mounting on Vincent Kompany to get some points on the board after three defeats in as many games.
