Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Tottenham have reported no new injury concerns following Wednesday’s defeat at home to Leicester.
Mousa Dembele could start after making his comeback from injury as a substitute in midweek, but Ryan Mason remains out with an ankle injury.
Dame N’Doye is not yet available for Sunderland as he awaits a work visa after joining on loan from Trabzonspor.
Full-back DeAndre Yedlin is on loan from Spurs and therefore ineligible to face his parent club.
Editor’s Note: Tottenham will look to bounce back from their defeat to Leicester on Wednesday in the best possible fashion by beating Sunderland this Lunchtime. The loss on Wednesday although frustrating wasn’t the end of the world in terms of the race of Top 4 as the teams around them bar West Ham failed to win but they can’t afford too many more slip ups if they are to secure a Champions League place come the end of the season.
Spurs were masters of their own downfall in Midweek as a soft Robert Huth goal gave Leicester all 3 points. It could have been a different story had Harry Kane’s effort not bounced back off the bar in the 2nd half. The defeat will have had many fans bemoaning the fact that we don’t have another Striker to go up top with Kane, that situation hasn’t resolved itself for Today so Spurs are going to have to hope the supporting cast are firing on all cylinders.
One man who isn’t firing on all cylinders right now is Christian Eriksen, he’s without a league goal since October and since the emergence of Dele Alli his impact has been marginalised. Eriksen out on the Left doesn’t seem to be using him to his full effect right now, could Pochettino feel a change of personnel is needed and Eriksen put on the bench. Someone they hope will return is Mousa Dembele, it’s now coincidence that Spurs haven’t won their last two matches in which he’s been absent
Their opposition Sunderland are fresh off of two league wins in a row as they added victory to Swansea on Wednesday to their home win over Villa a fortnight ago. Tottenham old boy Jermain Defoe is in a rich vein of form right now with 5 goals in the last 2 matches, what price would you get on him scoring against his former club Today. Those two wins have taken them above Newcastle and only a point from safety as Sam Allardyce looks to orchestrate their fight out of the drop zone.
Mauricio Pochettino will require a performance from his Spurs side and I think this game will show if Tottenham’s challenge is starting to slip away, a win and Wednesday is forgotten failure to and their Top 4 credentials look a bit less secure. I think they should have enough in them to win Today as three games on the road for Sunderland in the space of a week may be a bit too much for me. Harry Kane could certainly do with getting back on the scoresheet and if he does then it’s a Home win for me
