(Football news) Two weeks ago, the Hatters grabbed a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest, while Tottenham Hotspurs put on one of their worst performances of the year in a 3-0 loss to Fulham.
Spurs fans may have destroyed the 10-man Lions, but an 11-man Fulham crop outperformed, outwitted, and outfought a subpar Spurs team six days later. The Spurs’ 4-1 victory over Champions League rivals Aston Villa was not a portent of things to come.
Tottenham’s incredible 39-game scoring run in the English top flight came to an end with that three-goal defeat. It was the second-longest scoring streak in Premier League history. Two goals from Rodrigo Muniz followed an ill-advised Sasa Lukic finish to condemn Tottenham to their seventh Premier League loss of the season.
Victory at Craven Cottage by two or more goals would have been enough to propel the Lilywhites into the top four of the rankings, but on account of their joint-heaviest defeat of the Postecoglou era so far, Saturday’s hosts still reside in fifth, three points below Aston Villa with a game in hand.
While a spot in the revamped Champions League therefore remains in Spurs’ hands, Postecoglou has repeatedly professed that finishing in the top four is not the overriding goal for his Tottenham team, who at least have six wins from their last seven Premier League home games under their belts.
The Lilywhites are also on a 23-game scoring sequence in front of their own fans in the top flight but have been found wanting defensively for a while now; Postecoglou’s men have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 10 Premier League home games since a 2-0 October over recent conquerors Fulham.
Rob Edwards’s Luton Town side cannot offer Tottenham any pointers when it comes to defensive discipline, having conceded for the ninth game in a row during their March 16 showdown with Nottingham Forest, who took the lead at Kenilworth Road through Chris Wood’s opener.
However, the Hatters refused to surrender waving the white flag, and just four minutes after being introduced as a late substitute, former Cambridge United and Barnsley midfielder Luke Berry scored his maiden Premier League goal to salvage a dramatic point for the newly-promoted outfit.
Luton’s failure to sink the Tricky Trees saw them squander the chance to climb out of the relegation zone, but thanks to Forest’s recent four-point penalty for breaching Profit and Sustainability rules, Edwards’s men have shot up to 17th place and are one point better off than Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.
The supporters of Luton and Forest will be eager to learn the result of the Tricky Trees’ appeal, though, as this weekend’s guests at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium have lost nine straight games despite scoring in each of those matches.
To be exact, the Hatters have opened the score in all but four of their 29 Premier League games thus far. However, one of those scoreless games was a 1-0 home loss to a 10-man Tottenham team in October, which means they haven’t triumphed over their more prestigious rivals since November 1987.
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