Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Tottenham will seek to reverse their Europa League defeat by Anderlecht in Group J after letting an early lead slip in Belgium two weeks ago.
Spurs, who are 10 games unbeaten in the Premier League, are third in a tight group with two points separating all four teams at the halfway stage.
Winger Andros Townsend has been dropped from the squad after a row.
But forward Son Heung-min is in contention after six weeks out with a foot problem.
“Son is ready and in the squad for tomorrow,” said Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino.
“We need to decide whether he can stay or be on the bench. He is much better and we are happy with the recovery.”
Midfielder Nabil Bentaleb has also returned to training after two months out with an ankle problem but the midfielder is not yet match fit, while forward Clinton Njie is a doubt with a hamstring injury.
Editor’s Note: This game is going to be quite pivotal in terms of the Europa League and how the next two games are approached. If we lose tonight do we then play the kids for the remainder of the campaign and focus fully on the league. Right now I’m not sure we have the squad for both fronts and wouldn’t be too miffed if we didn’t get out of the group stages come next month. That said on the flipside if we do win tonight and we’re still in with a chance then I think we should go for it – maybe a contradiction but it’s all about assessing importance relative to the situation you find yourself in.
As for the match itself I think Spurs will do well to get a win tonight, the key aspect will be if we put our full strength side out or whether Mauricio Pochettino has one eye on Sunday’s North London Derby. I don’t think fitness is going to be a key concern as we’re still quite early in the season plus there’s no reason why players can’t play Thursday-Sunday. Then again Monday-Thursday-Sunday could be a bit of an ask for some of the players, so maybe there will be some rotation tonight that and a preventative measure against injury.
If you had to ask me for a prediction I will go with 1-1 tonight which keeps us in the qualification hunt but in all honesty is neither a help nor a hindrance. But as always COYS!
Hello fellow Spurs fan! You bring up a great point about how Tottenham should approach the rest of the Europa League campaign is they lose tonight. It will be interesting to see how they do. They looked superb on Monday night. And Sunday will be an exciting day! Cheers lad, great read.
Hi Tim, thanks for the feedback very much appreciated. It should be an interesting night tonight at White Hart Lane, lets hope the outcome is positive. COYS!