Our team-by-team guide to the new Fantasy Premier League (FPL) season continues with this preview of Tottenham Hotspur.
From early-season title contenders to a mid-season managerial change, Spurs’ 2020/21 campaign was an eventful one.
They finished seventh in the Premier League and also reached the final of the Carabao Cup, but defeats to Arsenal and Dinamo Zagreb in March were real low points and ultimately led to the sacking of José Mourinho.
Ryan Mason took temporary charge for the run-in, with Nuno Espírito Santo now installed as head coach ahead of the new season.
You can read more on the incoming Lilywhites boss here.
THE DEFENCE
Despite the lack of a settled centre-back partnership, Spurs’ totals of 12 clean sheets and 45 goals conceded ranked a respectable joint-fifth and sixth respectively last season.
| Total | Rank v other Premier League sides | |
| Goals conceded | 45 | 6th |
| Clean sheets | 12 | 5th= |
| Shots conceded | 486 | 12th |
| Shots in the box conceded | 324 | 13th |
| Shots on target conceded | 155 | 10th |
| Big chances conceded | 55 | 4th |
| Expected goals conceded (xGC) | 50.03 | 10th |
| Non-penalty expected goals conceded (non-pen xGC) | 42.15 | 7th |
However, it was all a bit underwhelming in FPL, with all of their defenders failing to reach 90-points.
As a result, a Spurs defender won’t cost you more than £5.0m in 2021/22, which does suggest that they could offer value once we have established who the regular starters are.
Nuno mainly opted for a 3-4-3/3-5-2 shape at Wolverhampton Wanderers, with the majority of his team’s attacks coming from wide areas.
If a similar system is used at Spurs, that would boost the appeal of their wing-backs.
Sergio Reguilón (£5.0m) ended his debut season in England with a respectable six assists and is at his best when bombing forward, while former Wolves man Matt Doherty (£5.0m) is also one to watch, having contributed eight goals and 15 assists across Nuno’s first two campaigns in the Premier League.
At this stage, it remains to be seen if one of the £4.5m options will emerge as a starter, but if they do, FPL managers will be handed a budget route into their backline.
THE ATTACK
Spurs ranked joint-third for goals scored (68) last season, but their inability to control games meant that they often had to rely on moments of individual brilliance to get them out of trouble:
