Tottenham defender Eric Dier is appreciating the impact Antonio Conte has had on his game as he explained he feels 2021-22 has been his most consistent season.
Dier has featured in 26 Premier League games for Spurs this season, starting each of those matches.
Of those league appearances, 19 have come under Conte, with the 28-year-old only missing three top-flight games due to a thigh injury sustained in January.
No Tottenham player has featured in more defensive clean sheets than Dier's 11 in the league this season, while his 95 clearances is also way ahead of any team-mate, with Emerson Royal ranked second on 51.
Harry Kane is the only Spurs player to win more aerial duels than Dier's 52, with the centre-back making a team-high 60 headed clearances.
Only Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (1,885) has attempted more passes than Dier (1,616) for Spurs, with the latter tasked with helping to build attacking moves from his position in the centre of Conte's back three.
Dier turned in another strong display as Spurs beat West Ham 3-1 on Sunday to move to within three points of fourth-placed Arsenal, and though he has missed out on Gareth Southgate's 25-man squad for England's fixtures this month, Conte believes the former Sporting CP defender will go to the World Cup in Qatar this year.
The centre-back is encouraged by Conte's support, as he went on to claim he is playing his best football since he arrived at the club in 2014, when he enjoyed a brilliant breakout season under Mauricio Pochettino.
"I feel for me this is consistently my best season I have had so far at Tottenham, not just as a defender but overall," Dier told the Evening Standard.
"I don't think I've ever shown the consistency in the performances that I have shown this season and I feel like my football is the best it has been in my opinion.
"It is always very nice when a manager, especially one like him, says those things, it gives me a lot of confidence, but the thing I pay most attention to from his words are that I have a lot of space for improvement and I think that is really the thing he says that I focus on the most.
"I want to fill that space, fill that potential, as much as possible, as much as he thinks possible."
St. Louis City v Minnesota United: Hackworth holding on to feint playoff hopes
St. Louis City interim head coach John Hackworth is confident his side can make a late push for the playoffs after going unbeaten since their return from the Leagues Cup.
St. Louis are building momentum at the right time, but remain six points adrift of this weekend’s opponents, Minnesota United, who sit on the right side of the playoff line.
Hackworth’s side were forced to share the spoils in their last MLS encounter against New England Revolution, but the 54-year-old preached positivity for the business end of the campaign.
“I personally believe that we're not out of time yet, you know, we still have control,” Hackworth said.
“We have to fix this little moment where we take our foot off the gas, where we don't play with the same initiative that we do to start the game. That's something we can fix. We have fixed it.
“We have gotten better. I'm going to say I'm blue in the face, but I believe in this group of guys. I still think we have a good chance.”
Minnesota, meanwhile, overcame the San Jose Earthquakes in their last match, keeping the gap between the teams below them to just a point with the luxury of a game in hand over most.
The Loons currently sit ninth in the Western Conference table and know a win is a must to keep their ambitions of remaining in that position alive.
Head coach Eric Ramsay acknowledged the enormity of the task awaiting his players but challenged his squad to deal with the raucous atmosphere inside CITYPARK.
“They have had a slight change in fortune over the last couple of games. They are fighting for their lives at the bottom in the same way that we are,” Ramsay said.
“They are a team I am sure that are looking at this game as being crucial for the remainder of their season and their fortunes.
“We have got to make sure we handle that situation well and that we understand the magnitude of the game for us and for them, because that will certainly play its part.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Marcel Hartel
Hartel has been involved in a goal in each of his first three MLS matches (one goal and three assists).
Since the start of 2023, four players have begun their MLS careers with goal contributions in their first three regular season matches, with three of them doing so for St. Louis (Hartel, Joao Klauss and Eduard Lowen).
Minnesota United – Robin Lod
Despite only playing the final half an hour in Finland’s Nations League defeat to England, Lod returns to the MLS with a record in his sights.
Lod has been involved in 54 regular season goals for Minnesota (28 goals and 26 assists), one away from equalling the club record of 55 held by Emanuel Reynoso (22 goals and 33 assists).
MATCH PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CITY WIN
St. Louis City have not lost any of their last six matches against MLS teams in all competitions (W3 D3). This is their longest unbeaten run in the division during the club’s history.
But Minnesota have won two of their last three regular season matches (L1) after winning just two of their previous 14 (D4 L8). Minnesota’s triumph against San Jose last time out also ended a seven-match winless run away from home (D2 L5).
And it has often been the away side who have emerged victorious in this fixture. Both their MLS meetings last term ended with an away win, with Minnesota out to upset Opta’s data-led simulations at CITYPARK this time around.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 46.4%
Draw – 26.5%
Minnesota United – 27%
The Numbers Game: Can Arsenal handle Rice absence in derby clash with Tottenham?
The Premier League is back following the first international break of the season, and Sunday's headline fixture looks to be worth the wait as Tottenham host Arsenal.
The first North London Derby of the campaign comes after disappointing results for both sides on matchday three, with Arsenal losing early ground on Manchester City and Liverpool as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton.
Ange Postecoglou's Spurs, meanwhile, were beaten 2-1 at Newcastle United, leaving them three points behind their rivals in the early-season standings.
What can we expect as these North London heavyweights go head-to-head for local bragging rights at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium?
By diving into the Opta data, we can bring you all the best pre-match facts, figures and storylines.
What's expected?
Arsenal have had the upper hand in the North London Derbies of late, and the Opta supercomputer makes them slight favourites despite the absence of home advantage.
They were victorious in 40% of the supercomputer's 10,000 pre-match simulations, with Tottenham triumphing in 34.1% and the remaining 26% finishing all square.
Arsenal have won their last two Premier League away games against Tottenham, as many as in their previous 17 such visits (six draws and nine defeats). They last won three consecutive away North London Derbies between January 1987 and September 1988.
Draws have been a rarity at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has seen the lowest percentage of draws (9%, 9/101) of any ground in Premier League history, so perhaps we should not expect the spoils to be shared.
When will Tottenham stop being Spursy?
The adjective 'Spursy' is not one any team wishes to be tagged with, coming to denote a side that flatters to deceive and ultimately falls short of expectations.
Postecoglou has made no secret of his desire to cast that perception aside and make Tottenham true contenders, but their start to 2024-25 has thrown up several familiar themes.
Spurs were utterly dominant on matchday one but could not hold onto a 1-0 lead at newly promoted Leicester City, starting their second straight season under Postecoglou with an underwhelming draw.
After routing hapless Everton, they were then beaten 2-1 at Newcastle despite firing off 20 shots to the hosts' nine, also enjoying 65.7% possession and playing almost as many passes in the final third (235) as Newcastle did overall (261). 'Spursy' indeed.
The North London Derby is a fixture in which Tottenham have struggled lately, losing five of their last seven Premier League meetings with Arsenal (one win and one draw).
That is more defeats than they suffered in their previous 16 against their rivals (six wins, six draws and four defeats).
These fixtures have so often been an acid test of Spurs' resilience, and they must improve their defending for a matchup that has not featured many clean sheets lately.
Arsenal versus Tottenham has seen both teams score more often than any other fixture in Premier League history (43 times), while it is also the fixture to see the team who scored first fail to win more often than any other (29 times, 19 draws and 10 losses).
Can Gunners replace Rice?
There was much for Mikel Arteta to be frustrated about as Arsenal dropped their first points of the campaign last time out, squandering a 1-0 lead in a 1-1 draw with Brighton.
But it could be that the sending-off of Rice, who received a second yellow card for kicking the ball away early in the second half, proves more of an inconvenience than the result.
The first red card of Rice's Premier League career – coming on his 245th appearance in the competition – has handed Arteta a major selection dilemma in the engine room.
Rice started 37 of the Gunners' 38 Premier League games last season, appearing as a substitute in the other. It is often said that availability is the best ability, and Rice's 3,230 Premier League minutes in 2023-24 were only bettered by eight other outfielders – team-mate William Saliba (with a full 3,420) among them.
With Rice patrolling the midfield, Arsenal were a picture of control last season, giving up the joint-fourth fewest fast breaks in the Premier League (23) and the joint-fifth fewest shots from fast breaks (20).
Thomas Partey and Jorginho, the men likely to be tasked with holding the fort, will come up against a Spurs side with plenty of pace in transition, and the likes of Son Heung-min, Wilson Odobert and Brennan Johnson will be desperate to exploit his absence.
Tottenham scored three goals from 25 fast breaks in Premier League action last term, finding the net every 8.3 fast breaks on average – only eight teams netted from such situations at a greater frequency.
Rice did much to help Arsenal build the Premier League's most fearsome defence last term, and they approach Sunday's game with eight shutout victories in their last 10 away league games (nine wins, one draw).
Elsewhere, captain Martin Odegaard is a doubt after sustaining an injury on international duty with Norway, with their absences potentially handing Spurs a golden opportunity.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Tottenham – Son Heung-min
Tottenham skipper Son has scored eight goals against Arsenal in all competitions. In the history of the fixture, only Harry Kane (14), Emmanuel Adebayor (10) and Bobby Smith (10) have netted more North London Derby goals than the South Korean.
Seven of Son's North London Derby goals have come in the Premier League, with no other current Spurs player boasting more than two strikes against the Gunners in the competition.
Arsenal – Bukayo Saka
Saka scored home and away goals against Tottenham in the Premier League last season. The only previous Arsenal players to score in three or more consecutive North London Derby appearances in the competition are Emmanuel Adebayor (five between 2006 and 2008) and Robert Pires (four between 2002 and 2004).
Saka has also been involved in more attacking sequences than any other Arsenal player in the Premier League this term (22 – 10 shots, seven chances created and five build-up involvements), scoring once against Wolves on matchday one.
Ronaldo: 'You cannot rebuild Man United without knowledge'
Cristiano Ronaldo believes Manchester United "cannot rebuild without knowledge" as he urged Erik ten Hag to take advice from assistant coach - and former Red Devils striker - Ruud van Nistelrooy.
United opened the Premier League season with a 1-0 win over Fulham, but then suffered back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool.
It is the second time under Ten Hag the Red Devils have lost as many as two of their first three league games in a season (also 2022-23); as many times as in their previous 29 campaigns combined.
United have also scored three goals fewer than their xG suggests they should have so far this term (two goals, 5.2 xG), the biggest such difference for any team in the Premier League.
Ten Hag was recently joined in the dugout by compatriot Van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 in 219 appearances at Old Trafford between 2001 and 2006.
And Ronaldo - the scorer of 145 in 346 games across his two spells - thinks the Red Devils will benefit from the wisdom of people with prior experience and knowledge of the club.
"[As the] Man United manager; you cannot say that you're not going to fight to win the Premier League or Champions League," he told former team-mate Rio Ferdinand on FiveUK.
"You've to say: 'maybe we've not got the potential, but we're going to try'. You have to try!
"If Ten Hag listens to Ruud van Nistelrooy, maybe he can help. He knows the club and the club should listen to the guys who were there [like] Rio, Roy Keane, [Paul] Scholes, Gary Neville, Alex Ferguson. You cannot rebuild a club without knowledge."
United return to action this weekend away at pointless Southampton, against whom they are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League visits since a 1-0 defeat in August 2003.
The Red Devils have also lost just one of their last 30 Premier League matches against promoted sides, winning 15 of their last 17 such games.
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