Familiar faces
During his two-year tenure, Roberto De Zerbi guided Brighton to a best-ever top-flight finish (sixth), an FA Cup semi-final, a first European campaign and eventual Europa League elimination to Roma in the Round of 16. From that tie, Pascal Gross, who re-joined in January from Dortmund, anchored midfield while Danny Welbeck, Brighton’s 13-goal top scorer this season, led the line. “I’ve been lucky enough to play under some great managers - he is definitely a special manager,” explained the former Manchester United and Arsenal striker, at the time. Bart Verbruggen has since consolidated his status as the club’s number one goalkeeper, while Jan Paul van Hecke and Lewis Dunk remain first-choice centre-backs. Carlos Baleba, Jack Hinshelwood and Kaoru Mitoma are amongst those familiar with the Italian’s methods too, but it’s worth noting Dunk is suspended– a notable loss for Brighton at the back.
How are Brighton getting on?
The Seagulls coped without Dunk last weekend, beating Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor - a fifth win in six to stay within touching distance of Europe. Fabian Hürzeler rarely deviates from their 4-2-3-1 formation, and there’s some tactical overlap with De Zerbi’s style too. Van Hecke stays patient on the ball, able to bait attackers to press him before playing a pass into midfield. Versatile academy product Hinshelwood is enjoying a number 10 role at the moment, while Diego Gomez, scorer at Spurs last season, is into double figures this term, often deployed on the right side of attack – with the ability to play central too. The trend of using midfielders at full-back has continued too, to great effect, with Mats Wieffer scoring both goals last weekend from the right side of defence.
How will Spurs approach this game?
De Zerbi stressed pre-Sunderland: “I don't want to give too many principles, too many instructions on the pitch,” highlighting after the game it’s the mental side of things his team need to improve upon. Regardless, there were glimpses of his preferred style last Sunday. In the opening two minutes, as Spurs built from Toni Kinsky, rolling the ball under his studs, before Cristian Romero punched a pass into the frontline to start a swift attack nearly finished by Lucas Bergvall. As the game wore on, Sunderland pressed more effectively, stopping Spurs from playing out as much as De Zerbi would like – so will the extra time at Hotspur Way this week help iron out the approach further? The loss of Romero is big, for many reasons, including his ability to play line-breaking passes.
Shaping the front line
There were notable tweaks to De Zerbi’s preferred tactical set up against Sunderland last weekend. At Brighton and Marseille, he’d often want his two strikers (or striker and 10) to both drop deep when the team has possession to get on the ball. This would force opposition centre-backs to make a decision. Either follow them into the opposition half and vacate space behind, leaving space for wingers to burst into centrally, or hold their position on the halfway line and allow an overload in midfield. However, Dominic Solanke stayed high as the number nine against Sunderland, with only Bergvall, the number 10, coming short for the ball. Will Spurs go for a similar approach – and could Mathys Tel, wanted by De Zerbi at Marseille, or Xavi Simons, earn a start?