Spurs v Fulham - Mauricio's preview

Mauricio Pochettino was delighted with a touch of deja-vu last Saturday – but doesn’t want it to happen this weekend.

We kicked-off last season with a 2-0 win at Newcastle on the opening day and did the business again at St James’ Park in this term’s opener last week, Jan Vertonghen and Dele Alli on target in a 2-1 victory.

However, this time last season we were toppled 2-1 by Chelsea in our first home match.

This time around, Fulham provide the opposition in another London derby for our home opener at Wembley on Saturday (3pm).

“We won at Newcastle and that was important,” said Mauricio. “Last season, our first game was at Newcastle and then we played against Chelsea and it was difficult.

“Now we play Fulham, another difficult game. It’s important we’re focused on winning this second game.

“It would be fantastic to get the three points. First, we need to show great personality and to give a great performance to be better than our opponents.”

Fulham suffered an opening day defeat last weekend as Crystal Palace ran out 2-0 winners at Craven Cottage. However, Mauricio feels Slavisa Jokanovic’s men were a touch unfortunate.

“This game will be tough,” he added. “Fulham come from a defeat against Crystal Palace but I thought they deserved more. It will be tough.

“It’s true it was a very busy transfer window for Fulham. They’ve signed players and it’s always difficult because you need to find your balance and you need time to adapt into the Premier League from the Championship.

“The manager loves to play football and they will come to Wembley and try to play.”