Have Tottenham Broken Their Wembley Curse?

When Tottenham announced they would be playing all of their home games at Wembley during the 2017/18 season, many people mentioned their “Wembley curse” and said it was a bad move.

However, despite a failure to win in their first three home league matches of the season, Spurs appear to have broken that curse with some memorable performances of late.

What is the Wembley Curse?

For those of you who have been under a rock and haven’t heard about Tottenham’s apparent Wembley curse, let us look at what it is and why people refer to it in such a manner.

Before the current season started, Spurs had played at the new Wembley ten times.

They had managed just two victories, losing seven (one on penalties) and drawing just once (twice if you include the penalty shoot-out defeat). This was all despite beating Chelsea 2-1 in their first match at the stadium after it reopened.

The “curse” continued into the new season, with defeat to Chelsea and draws against Burnley and Swansea in their first three home league matches of the season.

That took the Spurs Wembley record to:

Played 13, Won 2, Drew 3, and Lost 8.

Was it really a Curse?

Well, we’re not too sure it was an actual curse in such that a witch doctor didn’t put a curse on the team to play badly at Wembley. It was more likely down to a mixture of bad luck, the opposition upping their game for the big stage, and just a case of losing some football matches.

Sky Sports reported before the season that the problem may be the bigger pitch dimensions at Wembley compared with White Hart Lane.

The Lane had the smallest pitch dimensions of all the clubs in the Premier League, owing to the fact the stands restricted the size of the pitch.

So, the report claimed, the larger pitch would prove to be problematic.

It would appear the players have adjusted to this “problem”, as their performances and results have improved.

People used to look at Spurs matches at Wembley as a way of making money by betting on them to lose. Now, they can use sites like Free Bets UK to look to make a profit by backing Tottenham to win.

Has the Curse been Broken?

Since the defeat to Chelsea in the first home match of the season, Spurs have played nine matches at Wembley. Five in the league, one in the Champions League, and two in the EFL Cup.

The only defeat in that time came against West Ham United in the EFL Cup, when Spurs threw away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 and exit the competition.

However, they have also beaten Bournemouth and Crystal Palace 1-0, and Liverpool 4-1 in the Premier League, as well as memorable Champions League victories over Spanish and European champions Real Madrid, and German title challengers Borussia Dortmund.

There have been negatives during the run, including the fact that if Palace had a striker it may have been a different result, and that draws against Burnley and Swansea were unacceptable.

But, with brilliant wins over the likes of Liverpool, Dortmund, and Real Madrid, people can hardly say Spurs are cursed at Wembley.