Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Tottenham will assess the fitness of Eric Dier, who suffered a knock against Borussia Dortmund on Thursday night.
Ben Davies took a blow to the face during that Europa League defeat and he is unlikely to play on Sunday.
Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Mousa Dembele and Kyle Walker will all return after being rested.
Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter is a doubt because of an Achilles problem, while Junior Stanislas is still sidelined by a hamstring injury.
Editor’s Note: With Leicester winning yesterday and stretching the gap at the top to 8 points, could there win over Crystal Palace be the one that all but secures them the Premier League title it will be if Tottenham fail to beat Bournemouth at White Hart Lane this Afternoon.
Yes Mauricio Pochettino’s side may have a game in hand but the psychological dent that an 8 point gap can establish could heap even more pressure on a Tottenham side who repeatedly have to keep playing catch up to make sure they stay in the title race.
Last Sunday the pendulum swung in their favour for 24 hours at least as they went to basement side Aston Villa and came away with all 3 points after a routine win at Villa Park and cut the gap to as little as 2 points. Since then though Leicester have played and won twice by the scoreline 1-0 and the pendulum has taken a massive swing to the East Midlands.
Mauricio Pochettino rested key men on Thursday in Tottenham’s all but Europa League dead rubber against Borussia Dortmnund they gave a decent account of themselves but that Dortmund side is the measure of where they need to be if they want to compete at the top European level.
Now that European aspirations are done for another season the sole focus is the Premier League and they will be hoping that their opponents this Afternoon Bournemouth somewhat lose focus after for all intents and purposes reaching the objective of Premier League survival.
They can consider it a job well done thanks to a win in a crucial 6 pointer over fellow relegation battlers Swansea last week. They got the better of a 5 goal thriller at The Vitality Stadium but in fairness it hasn’t just been that win that has got them over the line.
The fact that they have taken 10 points from a possible 12 in their last four matches has seen them pull clear of the drop zone and give the South Coast a lot of breathing space. Credit must go to Eddie Howe who bought well in the January Transfer Window to help his side pull clear of the bottom three.
Not only that but there’s always been a great feeling of self belief not just from Howe but from the squad as a whole, there’s never been talk of crisis at any point at Bournemouth if results haven’t gone their way. They’ve just kept going about the business and the results they have been getting as of late have been testament to that.
The key for Eddie Howe is to make sure that his side don’t drop off in terms of performance in the last 8 matches. The last time these two sides met it was a 5-1 rout for Spurs but that was back in October and Bournemouth are a much more confident side since then.
They certainly won’t make it easy for Spurs but it’s as simple as this if Spurs still want to be in with a realistic chance of winning the title then it’s a must win, anything else and the Premier League trophy can begin to get dressed up with Blue and White ribbons.
