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Ange Postecoglou says his team are ‘in a good place to push on’ as he takes charge of Tottenham Hotspur in another north London derby on Sunday.
Spurs are hoping to respond after a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle in what has been an indifferent start to the 2024/25 campaign with one win, one draw and one defeat from their three matches so far.
The derby is a crucial fixture every season and Tottenham have a slight advantage given they are playing at home and Arsenal are undergoing something of an injury crisis but Postecoglou believes the Gunners will be a ‘tough nut to crack’.
Mikel Arteta’s side had the best defence in the Premier League last season but Postecoglou’s free-flowing brand of football could help Spurs break them down.
“We want to be a club that can challenge everyone, that’s what we are trying to aim to become.” said the Tottenham boss in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“To do that, you’ve got to perform at a certain level, at a consistent basis, the squad’s strong enough to do that. We’ve started the season fairly solidly, from a performance perspective. The results haven’t reflected that but I think we’re in a good place to push on from last year and improve on all areas. There’s no reason why we can’t [challenge] this year.”
Postecoglou also acknowledged what winning the north London derby would mean to the fans and how triumphing in big games like this can help a team build momentum.
He added: “Every derby is a bit different, obviously this one, you can tell it’s fairly intense between the two clubs geographically situated in the same part of town. On the same turf, there’s a little bit of an edge. I thought both games last year were entertaining. I thought we played well in their place, and really matched with them. We know what it means to our supporters and the club we’ve got to go out there and perform.
“I’ve never felt like there is an easy way to success, I don’t think one thing can change the trajectory to a great effect. It helps, a win in a big game, in a derby but it’s a game against one of the top sides so that gives you more belief and confidence and potentially that can inject some real momentum into our season.”
The manager was also asked about the charges against Rodrigo Bentancur for misconduct and for an update on the injuries in his squad to which he replied: "It’s not unexpected from our perspective. We know it’s something the league will look at and we need to let the process play out. Rodrigo’s well aware of the ramifications. We will just wait and see what they come out with.
"[Yves] Bissouma is the only one that’s got an issue. It’s not serious but he’s getting treatment today. We’ll see if he can train tomorrow and make a decision there.
"Micky [Van de Ven] is all good, he’s trained fully over the international break. Dom [Solanke] is back with the first team, training today so again, we’ve got training tomorrow, if they get through alright, I guess they’ll be available. Richarlison and Will Lankshear are the only two in rehab."
