Vilahamn hopes Spurs will be viewed as favourites against Brighton | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Robert Vilahamn says that he hopes that his side are viewed as the favourites against Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend.

The Lilywhites play host to The Seagulls at the Gaughan Group Stadium in Leyton on Sunday afternoon.

Spurs were arguably seen as the marginal outsiders when they won 3-1 at Brighton & Hove Albion in the reverse fixture back in October. The North Londoners have gone from strength-to-strength since that game and head coach Vilahamn hopes that people now view his side as the clear favourites going into the latest meeting.

“It was one of the first games of the season,” Vilahamn said when reflecting on the reverse fixture in the pre-match press conference. “Nobody expected us to win that game or saw us as favourites.

“We have taken steps since that game and added new players after Christmas. I actually hope that people now see us as favourites for this game because we want to be a top team and I hope that people feel that but I have enormous respect for Brighton because they have some really good players.

“To say that we want to be a favourite in the game, we also need to show that we can deal with that. Let’s see if we can dictate the game at our own stadium. On the other hand, they are just a few spots below us in the table, so it’s going to be an even game.

“I like what we’ve done and feel like we are ready to play some really good football against Brighton.”

A victory this weekend would see Spurs move to within three points of equalling their highest-ever points tally in the Barclays Women’s Super League. While Vilahamn would like to see Spurs set a new points record this season, he says that the focus will always be on performance.

He said “We are aware of the points that we have and know that we can get the highest-ever. We also know that we can finish fourth which is the highest position as well. On the other hand, we don’t focus too much on points or the position in the table because it’s not as if you get a lot of money if you reach those points.

“I want to do it because it’s nice to take steps in that journey but I want to play even better football because that’s what will win us titles in the future. We are focusing on playing really good attacking football against Brighton, taking the three points at the weekend then the highest points ever. They come hand-in-hand; if you play good football, you have a better chance of getting those points. We are focusing on the performance rather than the result right now.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion kicks-off at 2pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.