Season Preview - Tottenham Hotspur

Last season: 5th, 60 points; UEFA Cup quarter-finals; FA Cup quarter-finals; Carling Cup semi-finals

Transfers:

In: Darren Bent (Charlton, £16.5m); Gareth Bale (Southampton, £5m); Younes Kaboul (Auxerre, £8m); Kevin-Prince Boateng (Hertha Berlin, £5m); Adel Taarabt (Lens, £2.5m); Yuri Berchiche (Athletic Bilbao, nominal); Danny Rose (Leeds, nominal)

Out: Hossam Ghaly (?); Charlie Lee (Peterborough, free); Mark Yeates (Colchester, nominal); Robert Burch (Sheffield Wednesday, free); Emil Hallfredsson (Lyn Oslo, undisclosed)

Official Website: http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/

Official Kit:

A debate which has taken a lot of space this summer has been: Will Spurs to break into the top four?

Spurs had a long season last year, with appearances in the Semi-Finals of the Carling Cup and Quarter Finals of both the FA Cup and UEFA Cup – and at no time in the season did they look like finishing in the top 4.

This summer Totteham have spent as big as anyone in terms of cash laid out, even if others have exceeded their heftiest fee paid. Gareth Bale, Darren Bent, Younes Kaboul, Kevin-Prince Boateng.

Spurs shouldn’t really have a problem with slotting in goals. If Darren Bent can live up to his £16.5m price tag and if Berbatov continues his great form from last season and if Robbie Keane and Defoe can keep aside their egos – Tottenham should definitely be able to command the respect of any defense in the county. But that’s not how it went against Sunderland.

The mid-field could have been a little bit stronger. Didier Zokora, Steed Malbranque, Aaron Lennon, Jermaine Jenas, Boateng…doesn’t look bad on paper though.

Martin Jol is going to be under a tremendous amount of pressure to show some results this season.

Schedule via English Soccer Talk:

"Tottenham haven’t kicked off to the perfect start, after losing to Sunderland on the opening day of the season. The match against Everton tonight is definitely not going to be easy either. A trip to Old Trafford on August 26 will be a statement game. Beating Manchester United away will prove they're for real, and a draw wouldn't be a bad result either.

Tottenham hosts Arsenal just 3 weeks (2 games) later in a North London derby, another big game for them, and then will go to Anfield to play Liverpool on the first weekend of October. The schedule isn't very difficult at all from there until the middle of December when two consecutive road games bring Portsmouth and the second North London derby with Arsenal just 3 days before Christmas.

Tottenham will then play Chelsea twice in a span of 6 games, games that also include a home date with Manchester United an away game at Everton. 10 straight winnable games follow that second match with Chelsea, and a home game against Liverpool finishes out the season."

EPL08.com prediction:
League Position – 5
The Spurs have an attacking line-up which could match that of Manchester United. Berbatov, Defoe and Keane - each had in excess of 10 goals last season and the addition of ₤ 16.5 million Darren Bent just adds to their attacking riches. But again, there's going to be lot of expectations at White Hart Lane - especially because of the amount of money spent in the summer.

They didn’t get off to the best of starts against Sunderland and they really need to perform consistently to challenge the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool this season.