In search of another double
Kieran Trippier's man of the match award is the first such vote won by a Spurs right back since Eric Dier played there last season against Southampton, when we drew away in April last year. Kieran's match-winning goal was the first by a right back since Kyle Walker scored in our 4-1 win over West Ham in November.
Trippier had to be patient, waiting for his first Tottenham Premier League start until December 28th when we played Watford away (and won!). Kieran had made 7 starts in Europa League and League Cup games, but since his full debut he has blossomed under Mauricio Pochettino's now established policy of rotating his full-backs. Observers are now all too well aware of how Pochettino ustilises his full backs for width, but teams now don't know whether to plan for Walker and Rose, Trippier and Davies, or the other combinations available.
Another late starter for Spurs in the Premier League (Kevin Wimmer) had to wait for the enforced substitution of Jan Vertonghen for his first league appearance. Kevin has impressed in his two full league games since. Spurs kept a clean sheet in both those games too.
Spurs have recorded their sixth successive win in league and cup games, and their third successive league "double", with recent wins over Crystal Palace, Norwich and now Watford.
A fourth successive "double" over Manchester City next Sunday would be most welcome!
Elsewhere this week, three former Spurs players scored for the current teams. Jermain Defoe scored his tenth league goal of the season for Sunderland at Anfield. Gylfi Sigurdsson scored his seventh for Swansea, and Aaron Lennon scored again for Everton. Lennon has now scored in three successive games, and he has scored three Premier League goals in the last 4 such games. The only time Aaron matched such a scoring rate for Spurs was between January and March 2009. He maintains his record of never being in a losing side when he scores!
Thanks to Chelsea's added time equaliser at home to Man Utd, we now have a seven point cushion over the fifth placed side. We can go to The Etihad on Sunday with real hope of great things yet to come!
P.S - We are still unbeaten in seven London Derby matches this season with five wins and two draws!
· See the spursometer in full.
Results 06-07.02.16
Man City 1-3 Leicester
A. Villa 2-0 Norwich
Liverpool 2-2 S'derland
Newcastle 1-0 West Brom
Stoke 0-3 Everton
Swansea 1-1 C. Palace
Spurs 1-0 Watford
S'hampton 1-0 West Ham
B'mouth 0-2 Arsenal
Chelsea 1-1 Man Utd
Barclays Premier League Table
P W D L F-A GD Pts
1. Leicester 25 15 8 2 47-27 20 53
2. Spurs 25 13 9 3 45-19 26 48
3. Arsenal 25 14 6 5 39-22 17 48
4. Man City 25 14 5 6 47-26 21 47
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5. Man Utd 25 11 8 6 32-22 10 41
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6. West Ham 25 10 9 6 38-29 9 39
7. S'hampton 25 10 7 8 33-24 9 37
8. Everton 25 8 11 6 46-34 12 35
9. Liverpool 25 9 8 8 32-36 -4 35
10. Watford 25 9 6 10 27-27 0 33
11. Stoke 25 9 6 10 24-31 -7 33
12. C. Palace 25 9 5 11 26-30 -4 32
13. Chelsea 25 7 9 9 33-35 -2 30
14. West Brom 25 7 8 10 23-32 -9 29
15. B'mouth 25 7 7 11 29-41 -12 28
16. Swansea 25 6 9 10 24-33 -9 27
17. Newcastle 25 6 6 13 26-44 -18 24
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18. Norwich 25 6 5 13 28-46 -18 23
19. S'derland 25 5 5 15 30-49 -19 20
20. A. Villa 25 3 7 15 20-40 -20 16
