· My thanks go to Paul Yarden's excellent THFC6061 Sports Stats, for some of the information presented here
Like for Like - we're 5 points better than last season!
My thanks go to my good friend Gary Parker, who for several years has maintained a file showing our like for like results on a year on year basis. The file can be viewed or downloaded by following the link below:-
· Latest Year on Year Spurs comparison results
The file is in Microsoft Excel 97-2003 compatible mode and can hopefully viewed and/or downloaded by everyone. It may be best accessed via Internet Explorer. E-mail me (Paul Smith) if you have any problems and would like a copy of the file, which is 167 kb in size at this time. The file carries links to all Spurs Odyssey match reports since the 2006-07 season too! If you are interested in the progress of this file, which will be updated regularly, book mark our Premier League Review Index page for future reference.
The story of our season so far is that the home defeat against Manchester City was the only worst result than last season, and that meant just one point lost, as the same game last year finished 0-0. Defeat at Old Trafford was the same as last season, and the victory over Liverpool was also a similar result. Our wins over Wolves, Wigan and Arsenal are all improvements on last term. Next up will be a tricky trip to Newcastle, who remain unbeaten, but a victory there would be another improvement in year on year form. Here's hoping!
Following on from our last Premier League Review, Ledley King has now played in 4 consecutive league games, which he last managed at the end of the 2009-10 season, and Spurs have won their last 8 league games in which Ledley has played. he should be alright for Newcastle too!
Unsurprisingly, Ledley's central defensive partnership with Younes Kaboul (with a 100% win record) is the best of the 5 different combinations that have been used in our total of 11 competitive games to date. Younes Kaboul is doing well individually too, having started 8 of our games, and played more minutes than any other Spurs player so far this season. He had the misfortune to play in both the Man Utd and Man City games, but Kaboul has an individual 68.75% success rate, compared to Michael Dawson's 37.5% in 4 games. When fit, Dawson and Gallas might have a fight on their hands to get back in the first choice team.
Our defence is being aided by the fact that along with Kaboul, Kyle Walker and Benoit Assou-Ekotto are the next leading players in terms of minutes played.
Spurs then have won four consecutive league games, a feat last achieved in February and March 2010, when they beat Wigan (A), Everton (H), Blackburn (H), Stoke (A) and Portsmouth (H), which was a total of five wins. That was only the third time in the Premier League era that Spurs have won five league games on the trot. (Read some more information here)
It's great to be on such a high going into an International break, and to have beaten Arsenal for the third time in 4 league games. (We drew the other). It's great to be five points and 9 places above Arsenal and to read tales of their woe, rather than of our own. It's their worsst start for years. I can't remember the last time they have lost 4 games so early in the season, and apparently they are in the midst of their worst away for for 20 years. Long may it all continue!
P.S. Your man of the match for Sunday's game was Scott Parker, with Kyle Walker getting an honourable mention for that goal!
· Don't forget to check out our most recent match reports and articles (see the left hand side of this page)
Results 01-02.10.11
A. Villa 2-0 Wigan
Blackburn 0-4 Man City
Everton 0-2 Liverpool
Man Utd 2-0 Norwich
S'derland 2-2 West Brom
Wolves 1-2 Newcastle
Bolton 1-5 Chelsea
Fulham 6-0 QPR
Swansea 2-0 Stoke
Spurs 2-1 Arsenal
Barclays Premier League
Pos Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Man Utd 7 6 1 0 24 5 19 19
2 Man City 7 6 1 0 23 5 18 19
3 Chelsea 7 5 1 1 17 8 9 16
4 Newcastle 7 4 3 0 9 4 5 15
5 Liverpool 7 4 1 2 10 8 2 13
6 Spurs 6 4 0 2 11 10 1 12
7 A. Villa 7 2 5 0 9 5 4 11
8 Stoke 7 2 3 2 4 8 -4 9
9 Norwich 7 2 2 3 7 10 -3 8
10 Swansea 7 2 2 3 6 9 -3 8
11 QPR 7 2 2 3 5 13 -8 8
12 Fulham 7 1 4 2 10 7 3 7
13 Everton 6 2 1 3 6 8 -2 7
14 Wolves 7 2 1 4 6 10 -4 7
15 Arsenal 7 2 1 4 10 16 -6 7
16 S'derland 7 1 3 3 9 8 1 6
17 West Brom 7 1 2 4 5 10 -5 5
18 Wigan 7 1 2 4 5 11 -6 5
19 Blackburn 7 1 1 5 8 17 -9 4
20 Bolton 7 1 0 6 9 21 -12 3
