Lloris
Walker, Dawson, Caulker, BAE
Lennon, Parker, Dembele, Bale
Holtby
Adebayor
It's a huge game. I know you don't need to be told.
A win would take us 7 points clear of Ars*nal with only 10 games to go. We would be nailed on to finish ahead of them and in the 'top 4'. That means bragging rights. That means getting rid of the 'bottlers' tag. And most importantly, that means Champions League football at the Lane next season. On the other hand, a loss would be disastrous. The gap between Us and Them would be reduced to just a solitary point, and suddenly Anfield would be looking like a very tough place to go next weekend. Despite the confidence AVB seems to have instilled, heads will go down if we lose today. The momentum would swing to the Arse and they would know that they're only one result away from leapfrogging us in the table. That's how important today is. Of course, it could be a draw, which would be pretty anti-climactic. It would be a better result for Spurs than Ars*nal but both teams would still be well in the race. Let's not think about a draw though. We're the better team, we're at home, let's just go out and beat them.
As is always the case when it comes to the North London Derby, I'm nervous and excited in equal measure. We've had a great run of results, but they've largely come thanks to moments of individual brilliance. Although it's not beyond the realms of possibility, we can't rely on Gareth Bale to have another miracle match. The problem is that none of our other players look like goal threats. In my last post I argued that AVB needed to play Adebayor despite his atrocious form, because without an out-and-out forward, Ars*nal will feel like they only have one threat to deal with, and they'd probably be right.
But now we have another option. It looks like Jermain Defoe has shook off his ankle injury just in time, and is in contention for a starting place. There's no doubt about Defoe's goalscoring pedigree, and part of me thinks that starting him is a no-brainer, assuming he's fully fit of course. But AVB is unlikely to play two strikers tomorrow, so Defoe's inclusion would probably resign Adebayor to the bench, and I'm not so sure that's a good idea. Don't get me wrong, I know he's been shit. He was at his laziest against West Ham and had the look of someone who might never score a goal again. And I'm also not forgetting that he was sent off after just 18 minutes in the game at the Emirates earlier in the season. Yet despite all that, I kind of sort of want AVB to risk playing him. Think back to the game at their place back in November. Before Adebayor got sent off, he looked like he was capable of anything. He was so pumped up. He opened the scoring 10 minutes in, jumped over the advertising boards and celebrated in front of the home fans. If he had just exercised the tiniest bit of control, he wouldn't have got sent off and could have gone on to score a hat-trick.
If he starts tomorrow, I don't think he'll make the same mistake again, but he'll still be massively pumped up. He'd love to score against his old club again, but this time he'll be able to rub in their fans noses even more when we go on to win, and leave their Champions League ambitions in tatters. He's that kind of guy. Defoe on the other hand is a terrific goalscorer, and will probably be itching to get a goal on his return. But he doesn't have the same personal vendetta driving him tomorrow. You may think I'm insane, but even if Defoe's fully fit, I'd go with Adebayor for this one.
One piece of excellent news is that Dempsey is out with a calf injury, which means AVB won't be tempted to play him. I apologise if that sounded harsh, but he has been atrocious since his arrival at Spurs, and it's ridiculous to keep picking a player who is that off-form at this stage of the season. I'm guessing Holtby will start behind the striker. Holtby is kind of the X-factor in our team. We don't really know what he's capable of yet, and neither do Ars*nal, which makes him dangerous. Parker and Dembele are likely to start in the middle, and although both players have fantastic individual qualities, I'm not sure about the partnership. Dembele sits quite deep, and I think that has thrown Parker off his own game recently. They played to similar a game against Wet Spam, and as a result we failed to retain possession for any length of time. Demebele needs to push forward for the system to work, and as we saw in Lyon, he's happy to have a pop at goal if he gets in the position. Hopefully the two lads get it right today.
Both our full-backs are on dodgy form. Lennon has recently become brilliant at tracking back, so I think Walker will have some help. I'm more concerned about BAE. We need Bale as an attacking threat, and so it's unlikely that he will provide much cover at left full. Someone needs to make it their responsibility to cover that area when BAE is found wildly out of position. But for all my concerns about our team, Ars*nal fans will have a thousand more about theirs. They haven't been playing well, despite an okay run of results. And no matter what Arsehole Whinger said this week, he will be changing his team to deal with the threat of Gereth Bale. Right now, Carl Jenkinson is the unfortunate sod lining up against the Welsh wizard. If Whinger doesn't put extra cover on that side, we are going to have a field day. I reckon they will double up on Bale, but the hope is that it will lead to greater space elsewhere on the pitch for us to exploit.
Right that's it, I'm too pumped to sit still for any longer. Earlier this week, AVB said this was going to be a game full of emotion. I think that's the understatement of the season.
COYS!
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