Tottenham Must Seize Opportunity in Queasy Burnley Fixture

If you're a Tottenham fan, you'll understand why you feel a little bit sick ahead of the game against Burnley on Monday night.

In all honesty, a trip to Turf Moor will make supporters of any club a little queasy. It has got that gravelly, hard-nut reputation after all.

But if you were tuned in to Spurs' last game, one in which they led 3-0 against West Ham before capitulating to take just one point, you'll understand why the omens seem bad.

But they really shouldn't be.

Tottenham, alongside Liverpool, have scored the most goals in the Premier League so far this season and have racked up 11 goals in two away games courtesy of their thumping wins at Southampton and Manchester United.

Giovani Lo Celso is fit again and could start, while Tanguy Ndombele - who played no part in the Europa League victory over LASK - has been one of the side's positive stories of the season. He's looking as fit as he ever has at Spurs, and his partnership with Lo Celso could be exhilarating.

But even at this early stage in the season, Tottenham have been gifted a chance to put some daylight between themselves and a number of the top six sides.

Liverpool got their win against Sheffield United, but elsewhere there were draws for Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, while Arsenal fell to a late defeat to Leicester.

That's one bad omen, especially as similar results went Tottenham's way before their game with West Ham. The fixture at Burnley is a massive chance to bank some points while also showing more of a backbone, something they haven't done as well as they might have this season.

Dele Alli's penalty earned Tottenham a point in their last trip to Turf Moor | Stu Forster/Getty Images

Sure, they've only lost once so far this term - that being the opening day defeat to Everton - but there have been missed opportunities littered elsewhere.

Newcastle should have been beaten, dodgy handball decision or not, while the foot was taken off the gas against West Ham. The Manuel Lanzini strike was one horrible punch in the gut, but one Spurs had coming.

Any team who can put together a decent run of results during the next couple of months will see themselves firmly in the title picture, but that's easier said than done.

Manager Jose Mourinho has talked at length about the need to take things one game at a time, and he's right - especially given that Tottenham face a gruelling run of fixtures from late November to Boxing Day.

After Burnley, the north London outfit face Brighton and West Brom, before a scary looking fixture list which sees them up against Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Leicester and Wolves.

There can be no slip-ups at this stage before that stretch of tough games, especially with other teams failing to bank points when they're readily available.

Jose Mourinho has assembled a rich squad | Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images

Burnley themselves have had a poor start to the season - managing just one point from their opening four games - but it's exactly the type of game they may thrive in. If their big strikers up front get a whiff that Tottenham's centre backs don't fancy the challenge, things could go downhill for the visitors.

No matter which way the game goes, most Spurs fans will probably be glad one way or another once it's over. Hopefully it'll be with three points and not a sick bag.


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Source : 90min