Tottenham perhaps could not have asked for a better opening day fixture for the 2022/23 campaign if the end of last season is anything to go by. At a time when Antonio Conte's side were hitting their stride and pushing for a Champions League spot, Southampton were slipping down the Premier League at quite some pace.
Sat in ninth after their 2-0 win over Norwich City at the end of February, Ralph Hasenhuttl's men ended the campaign with nine defeats from their final 12 games as they finished five points above the drop zone. Only winning one game in that period, their victory over Arsenal did help Tottenham out as it proved crucial to securing the last Champions League berth.
Needing to make a huge improvement on the pitch given how badly they tailed off last term, Saints head to N17 on Saturday with plenty of fresh faces after bringing six new players to the club this summer, including Joe Aribo from Rangers. Many may see the game as a home banker but there are always a couple of shocks on the opening day.
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Tottenham unfortunately couldn't get the better of Southampton at all last season, drawing 1-1 in their first encounter at St Mary's before losing 3-2 in north London at the beginning of February. Leading 2-1 heading into the final 15 minutes, the points appeared to be in the bag for the Lilywhites until Saints sprung a major surprise with two late goals.
A huge blow to their Champions League aspirations at the time, it looked as if the defeat would prove incredibly costly come May following a 2-0 loss at Chelsea in their previous league match. Worse was to follow four days later as Wolves inflicted even more misery on Conte and Spurs by claiming a 2-0 win
Those three successive defeats handed Tottenham a mountain to climb in their top-four quest, one they thankfully managed to conquer on the final day after pipping Arsenal to the last spot. Having lofty ambitions this campaign with Conte having a full pre-season in charge and adding some much needed depth to his squad, Tottenham need to avoid defeats at home to teams such as Southampton and Wolves if they are to close in on Liverpool and Man City.
Securing wins against their closest rivals is also going to be key to a successful season having looked worlds away from Chelsea when they faced them three times in January. Conte and his team will have the chance to show how far they've come since February at the start of this season with the three aforementioned teams first up on the calendar.
Hosting Southampton at home this coming Saturday, Spurs make the short trip across the capital eight days later when they travel to Chelsea before playing in N17 the following weekend against Wolves. Losing the corresponding fixtures in 2021/22, Tottenham can right some wrongs and take a step in the right direction by getting the better of all three this time around.
One thing for certain is that confidence will be high in the camp after a good pre-season and the form they displayed in the run-in to help sew up fourth. If Spurs can indeed pick up wins in their first three games it will send out a big warning to Man City and Liverpool that they really do mean business under Conte.
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