Match Report (Fulham) & Preview (Luton Town – and back to winning ways – hopefully!)

 Match Report (Fulham) & Preview (Luton Town – and back to winning ways – hopefully!)

Match Report

Fulham 3 Spurs 0

After we thrashed Villa on their own ground—a match everybody thought we would lose—we next met Fulham at Craven Cottage (a match everybody thought we would win). So, let us start with the good news…

…Spammers 1 Villa 1, yes, the Spammers, who had two goals disallowed, managed to contain Villa (who are 12 points above them), which means between us and Villa, there is just a three points difference, and we’ve got a game in hand. Plus, there is only a goal difference between both teams… so we went into the international weekend in a good position, even though we lost to Fulham.

Yes, we missed the chance to move into the Premier League top four as Rodrigo Muniz scored two more goals to fire Fulham to an impressive victory at Craven Cottage. Muniz scored either side of Sasa Lukic's first strike for the Cottagers.

With victory, we would have gone above fourth-placed Aston Villa, but we were so lacklustre from the outset that we crumbled in front of our supporters' eyes. We could have gone behind earlier without Radu Dragusin and Cristian Romero's blocks to deny Andreas Pereira, while Guglielmo Vicario also saved well from Lukic.

James Maddison shot narrowly wide in the first half, and Timo Werner failed to convert, with the goal gaping in the second half, as we could not back up impressive wins over Crystal Palace and Villa in the previous two games.

Meanwhile, Fulham remains 12th but is only five points behind the Hammers in seventh place. We’ll leave that there… Now for some Spurs nostalgia.

One hundred and 21 years ago (30^th March 1903).

Victory over Queens Park Rangers in the London League ensures we win the title, finishing four points above the Spammers. The triumph was confirmed thanks to goals from David Copeland, Ted Hughes and Chalmers. This was the last time our first team played in this competition, as it was used as a reserve league in the years to come.

White Hart Lane

In 1899, the club moved to a piece of land owned by the brewery company Charringtons to the east of Tottenham High Road behind the White Hart pub. This became the White Hart Lane ground. We were there until 14 May 2017 and moved into our current stadium on 2 April 2019 (in between, our temporary home was at Wembley).

1908

Tottenham Hotspur was eventually admitted to the English Football League's Second Division in 1908. We earned promotion to the First Division after the 1908–09 season.

Match Preview Spurs v Luton Town

Now… to Saturday, the 30th of March, when we face relegation fodder Luton Town. Their position won’t make any difference on the day, as they will come out fighting… as every relegated threatened team has done when they face us. Luton is currently above the relegation zone by 22 points, just one point above Forest. As it stands now, any three clubs, from Sheffield United, Burnley, Forest, Luton, and Everton, could go down.

Date: 30/03/2023

Kick-off time: 15:00

Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Luton is outside the relegation zone by Nottingham Forest’s point deduction and needs a win to put some more breathing room between them and the drop zone. We, however, will be looking to get back to the race for Champions League football after the international break.

We currently sit fifth in the Premier League after 28 games. We have 16 wins, five draws and seven losses, leaving us on 53 points, six points ahead of Manchester United but three points behind Aston Villa in fourth.

This season, we have been amongst the goals, scoring 59 in 28 games, giving us an average of 2.11 goals a game. However, we have been average at the other end of the pitch, conceding 42 goals and keeping six clean sheets.

Luton, on the other hand, is 17th in the Premier League. In 29 games, The Hatters have five wins, seven draws, and 17 losses, which leaves them on 22 points, one point above the relegation zone.

The Hatters have performed far better in attack than their league placement would suggest. In 29 games, Luton has scored 42 goals, an average of 1.45 goals a game. Defensively, however, The Hatters have struggled. Luton conceded 60 goals and kept just two clean sheets.

Both clubs have met 81 times in our histories, with the first meeting in the FA Cup in 1894. We have the better record in the fixture, with 34 wins, compared to Luton’s 22 wins. A draw is more common in this fixture than a win for The Hatters, happening on 25 occasions.

Other than the meeting earlier in the season, where we won 1 - 0, we haven’t played each other since 1992; however, before that, Luton hadn’t beaten us since 1987.

TEAM NEWS

Tottenham Team News

We will be without Ryan Sessegnon, Fraser Forster, and Manor Solomon this weekend, but Micky van de Ven can return.

My predicted Spurs possible starting lineup:

Vicario; Royal, Pedro, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bissouma, Sarr; Kulusevski, Maddison, Son; Richarlson.

Prediction

4-0 to us.

That is it, folks… we (Mel and I) are off (Tuesday/ 26^th) to the Tottenham stadium to see the Belgium/ England game (televised live), including food and drinks, plus Glenn Hoddle in a Question-and-Answer chat. Janette and our friend Janet will be with us. Parking under the stadium. Hopefully, it will be a good evening… whatever the England result… and maybe some photos with Glenn Hoddle.

Up the Spurs!

COYS!

Glenn