The current Premier League top four odds have Tottenham priced the same as Newcastle United and offering far better value than Arsenal, and this makes them a tempting proposition given how impressive they have been to date.
With Ange Postecoglou’s new attacking mandate taking immediate effect, Spurs are unbeaten in their opening six games, averaging 2.5 goals per 90.
They have been vibrant and adventurous, a breath of fresh air compared to the stale side that went through the motions last season, losing 36.8% of their league games and finishing a lowly eighth.
In fact, more than this, they are transformed, a different incarnation completely, and with James Maddison pulling the strings in the final third, and Son Heung-min getting back to his best, who is to say this momentum cannot be sustained right through to May.
Certainly, their Premier League odds appear all-the-more enticing with every positive performance.
And at the very heart of this dramatic metamorphosis, marauding forward, and tacking for fun, and shielding the back four when pressure comes, is a player who perfectly encapsulates both the recent past and the promising present of his team. For Tottenham’s story is his story too.
That’s because last term, Yves Bissouma was a faded force, a flop if we’re being blunt, failing to make any sort of meaningful impact on Antonio Conte’s midfield, visibly failing to adapt to his manager’s 3-4-2-1 set-up.
“The only player that is struggling a bit with the tactical aspect is Bissouma,” Conte said, a couple of months in to the Mali international’s tenure in North London and even if the arch Italian had a nasty habit of throwing his players under a bus, in this instance it was hard to disagree.
The midfielder looked off-the-pace and was too often by-passed, at other times anonymous. And as he underwhelmed so too did his team.
It was a series of disappointing displays that contrasted sharply with who he was at Brighton, a player whose stats were so impressive across the board they were difficult to square with the fact he was primarily a number six.
In many respects, Bissouma’s brilliance on the South Coast can be likened to that of Moises Caicedo, a player who in many respects was his successor. All of which made Tottenham’s securement of the 27-year-old for £25m somewhat of a coup in the summer of 2022.
It is a fee that is resembling an outright steal right now, as the Ivory Coast-born talent shines, if not as the best midfielder in the top-flight then absolutely the most improved.
A 90.6% pass completion rate illustrates his care in possession while 2.7 dribbles per 90 and 1.8 shots reveal the extent in which he has embraced Postecoglou’s front-foot philosophy.
His work rate and physical attributes meanwhile - skill-sets that were never doubted, even during last season’s nadir - result in him being everywhere, breaking up attacks then popping up moments later to assist Maddison and company.
He is box-to-box personified.
It was stated earlier that Yves Bissouma lies at the heart of Tottenham’s transformation. More accurately, he is its heart, and presently they are beating everyone.
