The north London derby on 12 May looms ever larger for Tottenham. Just when it seemed fourth place and a return to the Champions League was within their grasp, they revert to unreliable type. Antonio Conte’s team have handed back momentum to Arsenal by collecting just one point from a possible six, having not mustered a single shot on target across 180 minutes against Brighton and now Brentford.
Way out in west London, Spurs were low on energy and cohesion, Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski isolated from a midfield swamped by Brentford’s greater numbers and zest in that department. Though Conte later said it would be “disrespectful” to talk about the transfer market and another club’s player, it was impossible not to consider Christian Eriksen, who excelled, as the Tottenham playmaker supplying his former teammates a quality of chance they struggled to find all evening.
