Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The final of our 8 Saturday Premier League matches takes us to North London and White Hart Lane in particular as title chasing Tottenham face North-East opposition for the second time in a week when they play host to Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough.
The first North London vs North East clash this week was honours even as Tottenham had to make do with a 0-0 draw against a battling Sunderland side. Although it was a point that saw Spurs move above Arsenal into second place it has to be considered two points dropped in the race for the title.
But it’s a race for the title that could be reinvigorated should their arch rivals Arsenal do them a favour a few hours prior. Spurs fans will obviously be loathe to ask for Arsenal win at Stamford Bridge but it may well have to be a necessary evil.
If Arsenal do pick up all three points from Stamford Bridge and Tottenham do their part in front of their own fans it would mean the gap at the top would be cut to just 6 points and just give Maurcio Pochettino’s men reason to believe if they do not already.
It’s fair to say that Spurs lacked a real intensity in the game with Sunderland, it could be easy to blame factors such as the pitch. A surface that prevented the away side from really taking the game by the scruff of the neck but scruffy was probably the word that sums it up best.
Tottenham’s players were not really offered as much protection by the referee as they would have liked with some pretty robust tackles being handed out by David Moyes’ men. So much so that Danny Rose had to hobble off injured and is now a doubt for this Evening’s match.
With Tottenham’s run of just 1 defeat in their last 10 league matches Rose has been one of it not arguably the key player in all this. The headlines may be earned by the likes of Dele Alli and Harry Kane’s goalscoring exploits but it’s Rose in his almost auxillary winger role which has been the catalyst for so many attacks.
Should Rose not start later on then Ben Davies will be trusted with the left back slot. The Welsh international is a solid if dependable deputy but he does not have the same engine as Rose and Spurs may well suffer on that left hand side.
If Kyle Walker does not start then Kieran Trippier can play the same kind of game on the right and you could even say he has better distribution of the final ball but on the left hand side unfortunately the same cannot be said. This is not a criticism of Davies, it just shows how high Rose has gone up in people’s estimations.
If the England international does not start then Middlesbrough will no doubt breathe a sigh relief. They make the journey here off the back of a winless streak that extended to 6 games on Tuesday after a 1-1 draw with Tony Pulis’ West Brom side.
They went behind thanks to a James Morrison early goal but Alvaro Negredo would level from the spot to give ‘Boro a much needed point especially as with Swansea and Crystal Palace both winning that same night the gap to the drop zone is now only two points.
And what is also concerning is the fact that ‘Boro still have the unwanted record of being the league’s lowest scorers. With just 19 goals in their first 23 matches of the season, it does not need the biggest maths fan to work out that it’s less than 1 goal per game on average.
Should they continue to score at the same ratio then they will have only scored 31 goals in a whole season, which in anyone’s books is the kind of goalscoring return that will see any club get relegated. With reinforcements in attack after the departures of Jordan Rhodes and David Nugent the hope is that Rudy Gestede and Patrick Bamford can score the goals to keep them away from the dropzone.
But with ‘Boro’s aversion to goals this season you get the feeling that should Tottenham go ahead then they will struggle to get a foothold in the game. When these two sides met earlier in the season it was a Hueng-min Son double which eventually set them on the way to a 2-1 win.
And I have a feeling that life will be a bit easier Tonight, Tottenham will have a point to prove after their Tuesday stalemate and should Chelsea slip up they will be even more buoyed up in which to do so, but regardless of the result at Stamford Bridge I cannot see anything other than a home win. Spurs to keep Chelsea honest as they add more woes to Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough side.
