Ange Postecoglou doesn't have much longer to wait until he discovers Tottenham's opponents for his first Premier League game as Spurs head coach. The schedule for the 2023/24 season will be confirmed at 9am on Thursday, June 15.
Postecoglou and all at Tottenham will be hoping it is a year to remember in the capital after Spurs finished eighth last campaign and missed out on European football in the process. A kind opening to the season would be ideal, especially as the Australian really needs to make a fast start to life in N17 or else the pressure on his shoulders will only increase.
Tottenham have started the term at home in each of the past four seasons, winning three of those fixtures against Aston Villa, Man City and Southampton and losing 1-0 against Everton in 2020. So what are the best and worst-case scenarios facing Postecoglou and Tottenham when it comes to the opening game? football.london takes a look below.
Best case
Bournemouth home
All teams just want a winnable home game to start the new season off on a positive note. Bournemouth would definitely constitute that, although Spurs did slip to a defeat against them in April that proved incredibly costly in terms of their European ambitions.
The Cherries are one of the favourites with the bookies to go down and, on paper, it would be a kind home game for Postecoglou to start off his Tottenham tenure.
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Nottingham Forest home
Nottingham Forest will enjoy another year in the Premier League after a strong end to the season saw them move away from the relegation zone. Key to securing another campaign in the top flight will be improving on their wretched record on the road.
Only winning one of their 19 games away from home in 2022/23 and losing 13 of them, they would be an ideal opponent for Tottenham on the opening day. Spurs were victorious against the East Midlands club back in March with a 3-1 win following a double from Harry Kane and Son Heung-min's strike.
Everton home
Although Everton's form away from home did improve towards the end of last campaign under Sean Dyche, the Toffees only managed two wins on the road from 19 games last campaign. Everton also only managed two away wins in the previous campaign, thus highlighting that they have struggled on the road for quite some time.
As the Merseyside club face a summer of uncertainty with question marks over who they can bring in due to their financial woes, it could be a very good time to play Everton.
Worst case
Arsenal
It would be quite something if Tottenham started their 2023/24 campaign off with a north London derby clash against Arsenal. The Lilywhites were outclassed by their rivals in both games last season and they will not want the same to happen this time around.
As patience is going to be required to begin with as Postecoglou looks to implement his football philosophy, it would be a complete nightmare if Tottenham faced Arsenal on the opening day and lost. On the other hand, it would be some start to the campaign for Tottenham and the new boss if they defeated the Gunners as it would send out a big warning to the rest of the Premier League.
Chelsea away
All eyes are going to be on the fixture list to see when Mauricio Pochettino comes up against Tottenham for the first time since taking on the Chelsea job. The Blues will be an entirely different beast under the Argentine and they should look a completely different team to the one that endured a nightmare campaign in 2022/23.
Given Spurs' dreadful record at Stamford Bridge, an opening-day clash in SW6 would be the stuff of nightmares.
A newly-promoted side away
Tottenham would be the red-hot favourites to come out on top against one of the newly-promoted sides on the opening day. However, games against either Burnley, Sheffield United or Luton Town would be far from straightforward with the trio looking to make a real statement on the opening weekend of the season.
With some fans still not entirely convinced about the appointment of Postecoglou, games against the trio would represent a real banana skin for the manager and Spurs, thus raising the prospect of a nightmare start and plenty of pressure on him after one game if they were to lose.
Man City or Liverpool
While perhaps not a bad time to play the Premier League's best as they won't be at full speed as would be the case a couple of months into the campaign, the last thing Tottenham will want on the opening weekend is to play one of Man City or Liverpool. Although you could argue that Man City at home is a favourable fixture given Spurs' fine run of form against them at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, their record is going to give at some point.
Liverpool, just like Chelsea, will be a much better team compared to last campaign with the Reds needing to strengthen after missing out on a top-four finish. As Liverpool are redeveloping their Anfield Road stand, a potential opening day clash against them would take place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
What do you think of the Postecoglou appointment? Have your say below!
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