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Harry Redknapp has urged Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo to stop making a “very strange” call over Dele Alli at set-pieces, amid the club’s poor record of conceding.

Spurs head into Sunday’s north London derby against Arsenal following two successive Premier League defeats. However, they have not scored in either of those matches.

Arguably more worrying, though, is that they have conceded six times in those 180 minutes.

A 3-0 defeat to Chelsea followed the same scoreline against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Spurs impressed during the first half of last Sunday’s match against Chelsea. However, they were undone by Chelsea’s second-half goals, one of which came from a corner.

For that set-piece, midfielder Dele was marking goalscorer Thiago Silva, with Antonio Rudiger – who had Cristian Romero for company – close by. Speaking to The Sun, Redknapp slammed Tottenham’s bizarre set-piece organisation.

“Of course they’re going to be conceding at set pieces when they’ve got Dele Alli marking the likes of Thiago Silva,’ the former Tottenham boss said.

“I thought it was very strange for Nuno and his backroom staff to sit in the dressing room before the Blues clash and make that call.

“He’s identified set pieces as a weakness in his team, but then he’s putting Alli up against Silva, who wants to come and head the ball for his life. ”

Sunday’s derby sees Spurs come up against an Arsenal side who have enjoyed a resurgence of late.

After three defeats to start the season, Mikel Arteta’s men have picked up back-to-back 1-0 wins, against Norwich and Burnley.

Still, Redknapp believes Spurs can make a statement by ending their own spell of poor league form against the Gunners.

Redknapp says Tottenham can make statement

“In my mind the North London Derby is an opportunity for Tottenham to show why they should be challenging for the top four,” the pundit said.

“Nuno mentioned injury problems, but having [Harry] Kane, Son [Heung-min] and Alli in your forward line, you should be cementing your place in those Champions League spots.

“The Arsenal back line will be looking at them ahead of (Sunday’s) game and wondering how they’ll cope, because it’s been hard work for them at times this season.

“A lot of it will come down to whether the Gunners can raise their game, because there’s no doubt Tottenham have a much better squad.”

Tottenham and Arsenal took one victory each from their Premier League meetings last season. Spurs beat the Gunners 2-0 in December, before Arsenal exacted revenge with a 2-1 win in March.

Can Chelsea keep Antonio Rudiger out of the clutches of Bayern Munich?

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