OPINION: Why Tottenham fans have cause for optimism despite the defeat against Sunderland

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-zerbi-roberto/pYizckpN/"]Roberto De Zerbi's[/a] side found themselves in the Premier League's bottom three for the first time this season, knowing that they'd need a win to haul themselves back out of the relegation places and effectively leave their fate this season in their own hands.[/p][h2]No EPL wins in 13 for Tottenham[/h2][p]Winless in 13 league matches, and without a victory in the top-flight in the calendar year, it was going to take all of De Zerbi's tactical nous and powers of motivation to get a tune out of an under-performing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tottenham/UDg08Ohm/"]Spurs[/a] outfit.[/p][p]By contrast, Regis Le Bris had steered his side to within touching distance of the European spots, and so the result was just as vital for the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sunderland/WSzc94ws/"]Black Cats[/a], albeit for entirely different reasons.[/p][image alt="Tottenham's current form (all competitions)" id="55f19af0-0687-4e7a-aafb-130fa9624fdc" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="971b074f-d46b-4718-b6ff-d024e51bdf64" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]He and his squad will have been acutely aware that they'd not won in the Premier League against the Lilywhites since April 2010, a run of 15 games without defeat for Tottenham, and a period of fixtures in which they'd scored 25 and let in 10 Sunderland goals.[/p][p]De Zerbi's first big call was to bring in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/udogie-iyenoma/ERi6Ggec/"]Destiny Udogie[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gallagher-conor/dtbJO8B3/"]Conor Gallagher[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kolo-muani-randal/WKBRZ6Y6/"]Randal Kolo Muani[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bergvall-lucas/th3mAHj9/"]Lucas Bergvall[/a] for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tel-mathys/drANB1N8/"]Mathys Tel[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sarr-pape/80B8ecr5/"]Pape Sarr[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/danso-kevin/z1MBQMNN/"]Kevin Danso[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/spence-djed/GQAxKWes/"]Diop Djed Spence[/a].[/p][h2]Kinsky's shot at redemption[/h2][p]With [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vicario-guglielmo/0fdL3XXa/"]Guglielmo Vicario[/a] injured, the match gave [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kinsky-antonin/hv1U4aGj/"]Antonin Kinsky[/a] a chance to redeem himself for his awful showing against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atl-madrid/jaarqpLQ/"]Atletico Madrid[/a] in the Champions League.[/p][p]The visitors to the Stadium of Light were certainly the more purposeful in the opening exchanges, with both [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/porro-pedro/nTebDzHC/"]Pedro Porro[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/richarlison/K82Dz773/"]Richarlison[/a] having shots on target in the opening five minutes.[/p][embed guid="03bedb2a-e344-4f68-913e-838607260653" url="https://x.com/SpursOfficial/status/2043315190410760604" social-type="twitter" /][p]As might be expected, however, it was Sunderland who dominated the early possession, and 41% of the game had been played in the Tottenham defensive third in the first quarter hour.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brobbey-brian/pfAvgQUT/"]Brian Brobbey[/a]'s off-target header was all that the hosts had to show for their endeavours, and things might have got a lot worse for them shortly after, had VAR not intervened to reverse Robert Jones' original penalty decision for a suspected foul on Randal Kolo Muani.[/p][h2]Spurs on the front foot[/h2][p]One of three touches in the Sunderland box, Spurs' attackers were certainly willing to get in the right positions, with both [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/solanke-dominic/OrADwZse/"]Dominic Solanke[/a] (seven touches) and Richarlison (six) also getting busy and causing untold problems in the Sunderland penalty area.[/p][p]'De Zerbi ball' could certainly be seen in patches as Tottenham's players knocked the ball about confidently. There was a freshness to their play that hasn't been seen for some time, suggesting that the Italian has already got his squad onside in terms of his demands.[/p][image alt="Sunderland v Tottenham - Player ratings" id="e727da64-8b9b-49c4-9b40-42dfbf3bca21" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="51037296-e19b-4776-8ecf-0229bfec6a8b" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gray-archie/KKqePmhD/"]Archie Gray[/a], in particular, eased through the gears, and a 90% pass completion before he was hooked later in the game was impressive.[/p][p]A big performance was needed, too, from both [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-de-ven-micky/rotN6HH8/"]Micky van de Ven[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/romero-cristian/jBZTWXMn/"]Cristian Romero[/a], and neither disappointed. [/p][p]The Dutchman's epic 98.3% pass completion was the best any player from either side, whilst Romero's 90.6% showing trumped anything from Sunderland's XI.[/p][p]Defensively, van de Ven won two of his three one-on-ones, with the Argentinian successful in eight of his 12 attempts.[/p][h2]No shots on target for the Black Cats until first-half injury-time[/h2][p]Udogie's four successes from five and the winning back of possession on four occasions were another reason why the hosts were struggling to create anything other than half-chances.[/p][p]That said, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/xhaka-granit/QBHCDKff/"]Granit Xhaka[/a]'s fierce low drive was a whisker away from opening the scoring before the break.[/p][image alt="Sunderland v Tottenham - Match Stats" id="b6e06552-2c10-4f0a-81e8-5bb9a25a878e" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="39d9c338-d8ee-4e30-98e9-6f2857be6ee0" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Three tackles won from five attempted, eight successful duels from 12 and a game-high nine occasions of winning back possession for his side underscored another all-action performance from the midfielder.[/p][p]Brobbey finally managed Sunderland's first effort on target during first-half injury time, whilst a flurry of Tottenham chances also failed to find an opener.[/p][p]One thing for Le Bris to address in the hosts' final few games will be the lack of a first-half goal. Failing to do so again was the 23rd time it's happened in 32 games this season - only [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/wolves/j3Azpf5d/"]Wolves[/a] (24) have failed to score more often.[/p][h2]Unlucky deflection seals the win for Sunderland[/h2][p]Richarlison had another attempt on target leading up to the hour mark, one of seven from Spurs' players on the day, but shortly after, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mukiele-nordi/MoObMvb7/"]Nordi Mukiele's[/a] deflected effort wrong-footed Kinsky and the visitors were behind.[/p][p]Symptomatic of their lack of luck of late, a failure to win any of their last 32 matches when conceding first in the Premier League (since a victory over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Aston Villa[/a] on 3rd November 2024) will have weighed heavily.[/p][embed guid="5d095df7-feea-4ab6-bc1b-59dab60a2521" url="https://x.com/SunderlandAFC/status/2043436494795477121" social-type="twitter" /][p]De Zerbi wouldn't allow his players' heads to drop, and after a triple substitution directly afterwards, the Italian maintained a positive demeanour on the sidelines in his attempts to lift his players.[/p][p]Sunderland goalkeeper, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/roefs-robin/Ao7TtUZn/"]Robin Roefs[/a], was kept busy by a steady stream of Tottenham attacks and would have to make seven saves - his most ever in a single EPL game - by the end of the match.[/p][image alt="Sunderland v Tottenham - Momentum shift" id="02298967-44d8-440e-bc2c-ed93de61917f" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="eb0e34a4-9471-4d80-a3ba-903352009b07" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Perhaps the biggest issue on the day for the visitors was their lack of accuracy in front of goal, though that's at least something that the Italian can work on.[/p][p]He certainly couldn't fault the effort and willingness of his players, and that's a big plus ahead of the final few games of the campaign. [/p][p]Ultimately, a 14th game without a victory is now the longest run in Tottenham's Premier League history, and De Zerbi's return to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brighton/2XrRecc3/"]Brighton[/a] in his next game now becomes a must-win.[/p][image alt="Jason Pettigrove" id="548ff822-41c2-4593-8713-d56452c4f301" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="6f671fac-018c-4be5-b3c1-fc9b2299b834" original-width="1200" original-height="380" /]