Coasting to Three Points

Spurs Men pull off an up-and-down win against Eintracht Frankfurt to top the CL group | Previewing two Merseyside matches this weekend | September Player of the Month awards

Apologies that this midweek issue is, well, barely counting as midweek at this point. In the midst of having family visiting we had a death in the extended family, so it's been a tough time.

The Frankfurt game isn't super fresh in my memory as a result, so I'm going to keep it fairly brief again with my recap.

Tottenham 3 - 2 Eintracht Frankfurt

This was a weird game, no other way to put it.

Spurs went down a goal in the 14th minute after an uncharacteristic error from Eric Dier where he took a heavy touch before trying to play out from the back, and the whole defense broke down to let Daichi Kamada shoot unmarked. Fair play to Frankfurt for capitalizing on Dier's sloppy movement.

We quickly equalized in the 20th minute with a classic Harry Kane through ball to Son Heung-min for the easy finish. Just eight minutes later we took the lead after a penalty was awarded thanks to VAR. Kane converted the penalty.

In the 36th minute Son completed his brace with a beautiful left-footed volley off a Pierre-Emile Højbjerg cross. It was the kind of goal worthy of the Champions League. Sonny had several opportunities to earn a hat trick, including a free kick on target, but it wasn't to be in the end. Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp made a few key saves to keep us from doubling the lead, most notably a save on a Cristian Romero header and another on a close-range shot from Ryan Sessegnon.

Early in the second half, Frankfurt went down to ten men after Tuta was shown his second yellow. They were lucky that Makoto Hasebe wasn't also shown a second yellow not long after. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take advantage of Frankfurt's diminished lineup and find another goal to put the game safely to bed. In the 87th minute Frankfurt scored with a header from Faride Alidou, who rose higher than Emerson Royal. It made for a nervy period of stoppage time with the lead reduced to one goal.

Spurs did have an injection of energy courtesy of Bryan Gil, however, and he earned a penalty. Kane's terrible miss for the PK was even more baffling than Dier's earlier error. We got the full Gil experience when he gave away the ball to Alidou for the German to take a shot, but Hugo Lloris collected it calmly. Bryan got another opportunity to score when he made a run to receive Kane's cross from the left wing, but Kane overhit the pass.

A few general observations from the match:

• Bryan Gil is like a wild horse, with boundless energy and the ability to surprise, but that unpredictability can sometimes be dangerous (see:  careless defensive errors). It's interesting that he's featured in both of the last two CL matches (which were against the same opponent, significantly), which would suggest that Conte is perhaps coming around on him—but then again, it could be just to put him in the shop window for the January loan market. I'm not particularly high or low on Bryan, but it's good to have an additional option for the winger spots.

• It is slightly concerning that Spurs took their foot off the gas when Frankfurt were down a man. I understand the thinking behind saving some energy for Everton on the weekend, but Frankfurt are not the kind of team you can slack off against. I suspect that if Son had stayed on the whole game and Dier had remained in the defense (yes, even with his earlier error), the game would have been seen out much more comfortably.

• Lucas was back from his extended injury, but was he really? I didn't notice much impact from him at all. At this point, I much prefer the giveth-and-taketh nature of Bryan's substitute appearances to Lucas' aimless efforts.

• There was a lot of chatter on Spurs Twitter about the lack of atmosphere in the ground as well as frustration over the team's style of play so far this season (which perhaps go hand in hand), but the way I see it, we've been treated to plenty of superb goals already and as long as we are getting the results we need, I don't think the performances themselves feeling lopsided are a huge deal. Perhaps in a different season I would feel differently and expect full-throttle performances from kickoff to final whistle, but in the context of a season that's going to be interrupted by the World Cup... let Conte and the players do what they need to do to keep everyone fit and prioritize the overarching goals for the season. Sure, the end of this Frankfurt game was a nail-biter, but I can't get that worked up over a game that included such a phenomenal goal from Sonny. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad and be grateful that the former outweighs the latter.

After securing all three points in the home leg against Frankfurt, Spurs are now top of the group by one point. A win against Sporting next week will see us qualify for the knockout round, and we could also clinch top of the group with a Marseille loss to Frankfurt. But first, it's back to the PL.

First one side of Merseyside comes to us...

The Men take on Everton at home on Saturday, and while Everton will be happy to be firmly mid-table at the moment and not lingering in the relegation zone, they enter this match without several players due to injuries and a suspension.

The suspension is for Anthony Gordon, who received a yellow card against Manchester United, putting him over the threshold for yellow card accumulation in the first half of the season. Franky, this is a relief; I think he's a pretty dirty player (one of the reasons I'm glad we didn't sign him after the reported interest this summer) and that's one less thing to worry about in this match.

Everton made some interesting acquisitions over the summer, including Neal Maupay from Brighton, James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil from Burnley, and Conor Coady on loan from Wolves. I think the defensive transfers have worked out better so far (they've conceded one fewer goal than we have, for what it's worth), but Maupay hasn't exactly been firing in the forward line. We know he has a penchant for stoppage time equalizers/winners, however, so let's not even allow that to be a possibility.

After initially saying that Dejan Kulusevski would be an option off the bench for this match, Conte has now said he won't be available at all. Perhaps time for another run out of the 3-5-2 formation? Emerson Royal is still suspended, so I would expect to see Matt Doherty starting in his place again, with Sessegnon on the left to build on his strong last couple of performances.

This is a game we can and should win.

...and then the other

Spurs Women are finally back in action after the international break, and (as far as I have heard) unscathed, existing injuries notwithstanding. And on that note, we heard some positive news in that regard.

Seeing Kerys Harrop back in the training videos was an encouraging sign, and I'm excited to see Chioma Ubogagu back in the mix starting with the next game (against Manchester City).

But focusing on the task at hand, we have newly-promoted Liverpool as opponents for our first home match at Brisbane Road. For those watching from home, this one is streaming on SpursPlay, if you want a break from the FA Player (yes please).

The club has been sharing some interesting previews from the opposition's viewpoint for the last few matches, and you can check out the latest one here.

Since Liverpool were in the Championship last season, which I don't often get a chance to watch, I don't have too much to add in the way of pre-game analysis, except a reminder that we beat them 1-0 in the FA Cup last season. They do pose a set piece threat with their long throw-in specialist, Megan Campbell, and we all know set pieces have been a problem for Spurs this season, so that's something to keep an eye on. Liverpool also have an American player, Katie Stengel, who has already scored twice for them this season—albeit both from penalties. You may recognize a couple of their summer signings from the Euros, Emma Koivisto of Finland (formerly at Brighton) and Shanice van de Sanden of the Netherlands (formerly at Wolfsburg). I believe van de Sanden is coming back from injury and is unlikely to feature against Spurs, but she'll be one to watch in the reverse fixture.

I am hoping we can get right back to the form we were in before the international break with that strong offensive performance against Reading in the League Cup. We saw what Everton were able to do against Liverpool by playing on the front foot, so I expect to see the same from Spurs.

Belated Player of the Month spotlight

I forgot to do my Player of the Month awards for September, but better late than never, right?

Men's Player of the Month:  Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

In the interest of not picking Harry Kane every month, I am switching it up and awarding it to our Viking this time.

We didn't have as many games in September as expected, but PEH still made a big impact, with one goal and one assist.

Højbjerg sometimes goes under the radar due to the solid nature of his performances, but his consistency has been a huge asset to Spurs since he arrived. He remains one of just four players to have started every PL match this season. Plus, he appears to have an important leadership role in the team. Let's hear it for our Viking!

Women's Player of the Month:  Ashleigh Neville

It could only be Ash!

Spurs Women only had two matches in September due to the first WSL match being postponed, but Ash was the standout performer in both games. She scored a worldie of a goal against Leicester that just won WSL Goal of the Month. The Arsenal result didn't go the way we wanted, but Ash was by far the hardest-working player on the pitch for our side. She already leads the league in tackles won and interceptions.

Here's to more goals from Super Ash!

COYS

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