Tottenham have always been known for having a strong front three, with most including Harry Kane, the Lilywhites' all time highest goal scorer. Kane left Tottenham in the summer to go to Bayern Munich and its safe to say all spurs fans were worried about where the goals were going to come from.
Son Heung-Min initially took the role of being the main striker, where he has proven that he can be promising in this role as seen by his 5 goals in 6 appearances so far this season and 150 goals for Tottenham overall. The South Korean is also captain this season, therefore he should be the first name on the team sheet every week.
As for the players who should be up top with him, it is a big talking point currently. Due to new players coming in and old players leaving over the summer, it is difficult to know which combination works best so early in the season. New summer signings, Brennan Johnson and Manor Solomon, are contenders along with last season’s signings Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski.
As of this season, Richarlison has 1 goal and 1 assist in 6 appearances, Kulusevski has 2 goals in 6 appearances and Solomon has 2 assists in 4 appearances. Johnson has 2 appearances but is awaiting his first goal contribution. Manager, Ange Postecoglou, is testing each combination to decide which two players work best alongside Son to create the most goals.
The opening three games Ange Postecoglou chose Kulusevski, Son and Richarlison to start. It proved to work well because Spurs managed to secure a 2-2 draw vs Brentford, 2-0-win vs Manchester United and 2-0 win vs Bournemouth. Although it wasn’t all three who contributed to goals directly, they helped create the chances and worked well with the rest of the team to secure the goals.
The next two games were an outstanding 5-2 victory over Burnley and an extremely late comeback against Sheffield United ending 2-1 to Spurs. The three chosen in these games were Kulusevski, Solomon and of course, Son. The Spurs captain was incredible and claimed a hattrick, two of which were assisted by Solomon, which proves how well they work together.
Although Kulusevski didn’t get a goal or assist, he caused Burnley's backline all sorts of trouble. It would have been nice to see him get one of the five goals, but he was a crucial part of the front three even so.
Against Sheffield United, things weren't as smooth sailing up top. Tottenham were 1-0 down and it wasn’t until the 98th and 100th minute they managed to get their goals. Although it was Kulusevski, Solomon and Son who started, it was Richarlison coming on in the 80th minute which made all the difference. He bagged the equaliser and then two minutes later, assisted Kulusevski with the winner for Tottenham.
Tottenham’s most recent game was against Arsenal in the North London Derby. The front three Ange chose to start was Kulusevski, Johnson and Son. Kulusevski was down the right-hand side and was strong as always. The Swede linked up well with Son and although he didn’t get a goal or assist, he was promising and looked dangerous.
Johnson made his full debut for Spurs which was intense for him with it being such an important game. He had an early shot which was deflected over the crossbar and then a big chance later in front of goal which Raya managed to save. He had a few other chances and played excellently for his first start in a Spurs shirt, however he had to come off injured in the 63rd minute. Richarlison and Solomon came on in the second half and they were strong however didn’t contribute to the scoreline.
Analysing the games so far this season, looking at who started and the goal/assist tally it is difficult to pinpoint which front three works best. With it being so early in the season it is impossible to predict who will be regularly starting especially due to the array of talent up top.
Personally, after seeing how strong we looked in the North London derby, I would love to see more of the Kulusevski, Johnson, Son trio with Richarlison and Solomon being fresh subs when needed. I believe Richarlison works best coming on later in the game creating impact as apposed to starting.
For an added insight, I asked my Spurs Twitter followers which their favourite front 3 is and here were the results:
Amazing as always !!