Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Tottenham started the season with a 12 game unbeaten run but they have suffered twice in their last three encounters. With defeats coming at the hands of both Chelsea and Manchester United it’s almost as if they are beating the lesser teams with ease but are starting to find their level when faced against bigger clubs.
They say the table doesn’t lie and with them currently sitting in 5th place you would have to say that it’s a fair summation of their season so far. With them already 10 points off the top of the table I think it may also be fair to say that any feint title hopes may well have been extinguished on Sunday afternoon.
Sunday saw them travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United and not only did they come away empty handed but they also spurned the opportunity to move above Manchester City and into 4th place. Tonight they will look to bounce back to winning ways against a struggling Hull side.
It was a solitary Henrikh Mkhitaryan goal which was Tottenham’s undoing on Sunday. A Harry Kane mistake was pounced on by Ander Herrera and by the time Herrera had played Mkhitaryan the next thing Hugo Lloris knew was that the ball was fired past him to give United the lead.
It would be a lead that they had to doggedly hold onto but Tottenham were also guilty of wasting chances late on which would have seen them earn at least a point. An afternoon of frustration for Mauricio Pochettino especially as his side were so clinical the week before.
That was then they hit 5 past Swansea in a match up of total domination, so much was their dominance that Swansea didn’t even get a shot on target. The hope will be that they show the same ruthless efficency when they go up against Mike Phelan’s Hull at White Hart Lane later this evening.
Hull missed out on a huge opportunity of their own at the weekend when they conceded a late goal to Crystal Palace. A topsy turvy game saw former Hull forward Frazier Campbell grab an equaliser for Palace to end the game 3-3. A handy point for Hull but all three would have been even better.
That’s because had they beaten the South London side they would have moved out of the bottom three and above both West Ham and Swansea into 17th place. Although there is still a lot of football to be played those dropped points could prove costly later in the season.
Tottenham old boy Ryan Mason could be inline to face his former club but that will depend if he is recalled to the starting eleven. Mason who moved to Humberside for £13m in the Summer has had to make do with the bench as of late.
Although Hull have shortage of attacking personnel the fact that they found the net three times on Saturday will certainly give some encouragement to Mike Phelan but that was against Crystal Palace. I cannot see Tottenham being as generous this evening.
And with Tottenham looking to stay in the hunt for a top four place and also hoping that Manchester United don’t gain anymore ground on them they are going to be all out for victory. I think Hull will struggle and can’t see anything other than a home win. The Spurs go marching on Tonight.
