The first North London Derby headlines a big weekend of fixtures in the FAWSL. Newly promoted Tottenham Hotspur Women host defending champions Arsenal Women on Sunday in what should prove to be an interesting contest. The visitors got back on track before the international break with a victory over title rivals Manchester City Women. Tottenham come into the match with three wins out of their first five matches in the top flight.
In this preview, we will go into a tactical analysis of both sides so far this campaign. We will also look at some key areas and tactics that could prove vital in deciding which side comes out on top this Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur Womens set-up
Tottenham Hotspur Women will be pleased with their start to the campaign after five matches. However, Chelsea and Manchester United both showed the gap in quality between the league’s elite and this current Spurs side. Given Arsenal Women’s dominance in the English game, it is likely we will see a more defensive approach from the home side, similar to the one we saw in the two matches mentioned above. This analysis will look at what we are likely to see with their set-up.
Out of possession, Tottenham Hotspur Women set up in a 4-4-2 shape. Furness creates a two-striker initial press with Dean, and the two banks of four sit deep when the opponent is in possession. This allows the midfielders to be able to aid in cutting off space for opposition attacks to exploit.
While this is their traditional shape, we could likely see some variations during the match. Against Manchester United Women, at times a 4-3-3 with two eight’s was deployed in and out of possession. With one of the two in the London side’s double-pivot to join Furness who drops deeper into this shape, this tactic was used to occupy United two holding midfielders.
On Sunday, we could see a similar variation of this structure. With Arsenal’s midfield containing a lone six and two eights, Spurs could use a 4-3-3 structure to directly counter Arsenal’s shape. A 4-5-1 with two holding central players and one slightly higher to occupy Lia Walti could give Spurs their best opportunity to stop Arsenal’s attacking flow.
Opportunities to get numbers forward will come at a premium in this match for the newly-promoted side. Due to this, they will have to be very clinical to take any points away Sunday afternoon.
One area Tottenham Hotspur Women are particularly dangerous in is long-range efforts. The attacking players are encouraged to look for spaces in between 18 and 25 yards out to look for attempts at goal. Kit Graham scored both of the London side’s goals using this tactic against Birmingham City two weeks ago. Below you can see the winger finding space centrally to score one of these goals.
