It was perhaps understandable why Antonio Conte was "really worried" when he looked at Tottenham's 2022/23 Premier League fixtures for the very first time. Starting the new campaign with a home match against Southampton before travelling to Chelsea the following week, Spurs' third game of the season saw them host Wolves at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Perhaps not a bad start considering the fate of others in the Premier League, the Lilywhites had in fact lost all three games in a row against the aforementioned teams at the start of 2022. The three defeats looked to have delivered a hammer blow to their Champions League hopes but thankfully they recovered from the huge setback to wrap up fourth after a fine end to the campaign.
Following their 2-0 loss against Wolves in the middle of February, Spurs have come on in leaps and bounds since then and managed to build an incredible mentality under Conte that has seen them pick up points at the Premier League's best. There have been a number of blips along the way, however, notably the results against Burnley, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford last season.
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Consistency is key for Tottenham going forward if they are to challenge at the top, as well as getting points on the board when not performing at their very best. That has been the case in two of their first three Premier League games in 2022/23 to help them record seven points from a possible nine.
Impressive against Southampton and having the chances on goal to win by more, Tottenham did struggle at Chelsea eight days later with the Blues delivering one of their best performances in months to make life incredibly difficult for Conte's men. The introduction of Richarlison made a huge difference, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Harry Kane grabbing the goals to ensure the team left Stamford Bridge with a point in the bag.
On Saturday against Wolves, Spurs weren't at the best once again in the first half and Bruno Lage even admitted after the game that his side "surprised" their opponents a little bit as they pressed and controlled proceedings. The sign of a good team is winning when not at the peak of their powers, though, and that's what Spurs did in N17 thanks to Kane's header from a corner routine straight from the training ground.
Tottenham's winning mentality kicked in once again and helped them get over the line to maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign. What will please Conte a great deal is that they are seven points up on the corresponding fixtures last season and there is still so much more to come from the team.
"I have to be very clear. In my opinion last season this type of game, you weren't so prepared to find this difficulty and probably this type of game you're going to lose at the end. In fact last season we lost at home against Southampton, at home against Wolverhampton and against Chelsea. Now against these three teams, I was really worried when I saw the schedule (laughs)," said Conte in his post-match press conference.
"I said that if we repeat the same results as last season we stay after three games with zero points. Instead to get seven points showed that this team is improving in many aspects, but we want to continue to improve because for sure this is not enough to be competitive, to fight for something important, but we have one year in front of us to continue to work, to implement our tactical knowledge.
"I'm confident because this group is a really good group of people. There is great chemistry between us and I think this is important because when there is chemistry you are able to overcome the difficulty."
Taking a big step already this season by righting the wrongs of last term, all eyes are now on next Sunday's trip to Nottingham Forest. Certainly a tough fixture and one nobody should take for granted, another three points will put them in a good position for their London derby at West Ham, another fixture they lost in 2021/22.
With seven points in the bag already despite struggling at times, Tottenham really could be a force to be reckoned with once everything clicks and they start delivering 90-minute performances on a weekly basis.
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