Tottenham: Spurs tipped for the title; £7m in damages; youngster's England u21s call-up

By Dan Zeqiri

There is a tremendous buzz of excitement around White Hart Lane currently, and Spurs’ 2-0 win over Manchester City at the weekend means they are starting to get the attention they deserve. With the exception Leicester City, Mauricio Pochetinno’s side were the best unit in the Premier League but faded badly in the closing stages to allow fierce rivals Arsenal to pip them to second.

However, with Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho unveiled in new jobs elsewhere, Spurs kept their team together and were allowed to go about their business quietly. They are unbeaten so far the in the Premier League; the only team with an unblemished record in the top flight and are doing so without Harry Kane, Moussa Dembele and Eric Dier.

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp is certainly impressed, and in a feature with Martin Keown and Chris Sutton in The Daily Mail claims Spurs are one of three clubs who can win the league:

“Tottenham, Liverpool and City are the three best teams in the League. We’ll find a winner from those. There is such a long way to go but this has been a dream start for Spurs.

“Don’t underestimate what that does for their belief. They comfortably beat the team that everyone thought were going to walk away with the title.”

Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea might have something to say about that. One doubt over Spurs must be whether they can score enough goals. Recent history suggests that it is the top scorers rather than the side with the best defence that wins the league. In the absence of Harry Kane, Pochettino’s side need to keep finding goals from other areas.

The form of Heung Min-Son has been revelatory, and summer signing Vincent Janssen will be called upon in the coming weeks. Spurs look a very impressive and efficient unit, but it seems a bit premature of Redknapp to limit the title race to just three teams.

Elsewhere, former Spurs youth player Radwan Hamed has been awarded £7 million in damages after he collapsed following a cardiac arrest in his first professional game for the club in 2006. Despite scans showing that the player had a heart abnormality he was allowed to play on, and the High Court yesterday found that Spurs had breached their duties to the play.

Hamed suffered serious brain injuries as a result of the tragic incident, and the judge found that Spurs were up to 70% liable. Following Fabrice Muamba’s heart attack at White Hart Lane while playing in FA Cup tie for Bolton, fresh regulations have been brought in to ensure this does not happen again.

Finally, Tottenham’s Josh Onomah has been called up to the England Under 21 as a replacement for the injured Will Hughes ahead of qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Bosnia Herzegovina. Onomah has made three first team appearances this season and scored his first goal for the club in their EFL Cup thrashing of Gillingham last month. Aidy Boothroyd is in charge following the recent promotion of Gareth Southgate to the senior team.

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Ai Kagou