From a result perspective, it was the ideal start to life at Tottenham Hotspur for new boss Antonio Conte. From a performance perspective though, perhaps less so.
His side just about came out on top in a lively Europa Conference League encounter which produced five goals and three red cards.
Conte will undoubtedly be hoping for a more controlled performance on Sunday as he and his Spurs side travel up to Merseyside to take on Everton.
The Toffees have lost their last three league games, handing Spurs what should be a favourable league encounter to kickstart the Conte era. And so far, these sorts of fixtures have been in short supply.
This is because across the opening ten league matches, Tottenham have been handed one of the toughest runs when compared to the rest of the teams in the Premier League.
Based on the FiveThirtyEight forecasting index, the average predicted end of season position for Tottenham’s opponents so far is 9.3. Only Norwich City, Brentford and Crystal Palace have faced opponents with a higher collective average league finish.
What this means in very basic terms is that Spurs have faced more teams likely to finish near the top of the table, rather than the bottom.
Having already bypassed some of the trickier early-season encounters that surely played a part in Nuno Espirito Santo’s downfall at the club, it seems as though Conte should be set to embark on a more favourable run in which he and his side can build momentum.
Sure enough, up next after Everton are Leeds United, Burnley and Brentford, all sides Spurs should be expecting to overcome.
Therefore, both as Conte starts getting to work with the group and as fixtures begin to level out in terms of the quality of the opponent, don’t be surprised to see Tottenham begin to surge up the Premier League table in the coming weeks and close the gap on the leading pack.
