Graham Potter's surprise tactics for Tottenham: Yves Bissouma and Tanguy Ndombele battle is key

Tottenham’s trip to Brighton's Amex Stadium tomorrow will trigger unpleasant memories for the North Londoners

Last season, Brighton thrashed Spurs 3-0 at home, just four days after their 7-2 hiding to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Spurs’ former boss Mauricio Pochettino, who was later sacked after a poor start to the season, fell victim to Neal Maupay’s early tap-in and Aaron Connolly’s impressive brace on his home debut.

The now PSG head coach led Spurs to the first Champions League final in their history just months before, branding them as a creative outfit in attack and a high-pressing team in defence.

However, during Pochettino’s turbulent spell at the start of the 2019/20 campaign, the players failed to press teams with the same intensity, which subsequently gave opponents a weakness or vulnerability to exploit.

One of the contributing factors to Brighton’s 3-0 triumph at the Amex was their ability to outrun and outwork Spurs. Although Hugo Lloris’ fumble gifted Brighton the opener, Connolly was given acres of time and space to cross the ball into the danger zone, having not been closed down on the wing.

As the game progressed, Spurs were forced to overload players forward in search of an equaliser, which offered Albion the chance to hurt the visitors on the break.

Potter’s deployment of a 4-4-2 against Spurs was arguably the perfect choice: it allowed for solidity and resilience in defence, whilst still posing a threat once the ball was retained.

Nevertheless, if Potter hopes for a repeat at the Amex this weekend, he will have to consider how to combat a vastly different Spurs side to the one he faced last season.

Since Pochettino’s departure, Jose Mourinho has firmly rooted his methods into Tottenham’s playing style and managed to transform them into a ruthless defensive unit, capable of hurting teams on the counterattack.

Spurs now boast the best defens