Lloris
Walker Daws Verts BAE
Lennon Dembele Parker Siggy
Bale
Defoe
Evening all, and as I reckon most of you will be reading this tomorrow morning, a very happy Mother's Day to all the mummies in our Spurs family!
With Inter effectively dead and buried, AVB and his boys can give Liverpool their full attention, and they'll need to. Thursday night's Europa League clash may have been billed as a glamour tie, but we all know that tomorrow's trip to Anfield will provide a far tougher test.
10 games to go, and looking at our run-in, there's still a hell of a lot of work to be done if we're to secure a top 4 spot, never mind finishing third or second or whatever. Tomorrow's game is one of our hardest remaining fixtures, and while I'm confident that the team is fully focused on the job at hand, taking three points will not be easy. Like ourselves, Liverpool are on an impressive run of form, and like ourselves, one player has been the stand-out performer. I'm obviously talking about that little rat-faced bastard, Luis Suarez. I wonder what he's bought his mum for Mother's Day?
Annoying and all as he is, you can't argue with his record this season. 21 league goals so far, and 11 in his last 11 games. There's no doubt that he's a big threat, but is he their only threat? Looking at the stats, he's actually scored 40% of Liverpool's goals this season. To give a comparison, Robin Van Pervy has scored 27% of Man United's, and Bale has scored 33% of ours. And they call us a one-man team?
The point is that while their tactics will inevitably be geared to stop Gareth, we need to stop Suarez. Obviously it's easier said than done, but if we manage it we have a great chance, because the rest of their team, bar Gerrard, couldn't hit a donkey's arse with a banjo. AVB said as much earlier today:
"Suarez is a tremendous player. He is making the difference. He is a top player and is taking almost the team on his shoulders with his goal-scoring ability."
"He is someone we must be wary of. He had a tremendous game at White Hart Lane and we have to be careful with his strengths."
The major team news for them is that Sturridge and Skrtel have both recovered from injury and will be available. Sturridge will probably start but Skrtel is expected to be left out in favour of Carragher, so it will be Carragher and Agger that Gareth and Jermain will hopefully be giving the run-around.
Looking at our team, the biggest question is whether Lennon will be fit enough to play after he picked up that hamstring injury on Thursday. He's been a bit of an unsung hero this year Aaron, and it will be a big loss if he's missing, especially because of the cover he provides for the sometimes headless Walker. Adebayor and Dempsey may both be available after shaking off their respective injuries, but I don't think any of us know if that's good news. There's one piece of news that's very definitely good, and that's that Dembele, who had a fantastic game on Thursday, is fighting fit and ready to start. Based on recent form, the rest of the team picks itself, assuming Lennon's fit. I have to say I was disappointed that AVB didn't start Bale on the left in the last two games, as I think he would have ripped Jenkinson (Arsenal) and Zanetti (Inter) to shreds, however Thursday night proved Siggy can do a job out there, and obviously Bale can be effective anywhere so I'll be happy enough if he goes with that again.
However, if Lennon is out then this is the team I'd start with:
Lloris
Walker Daws Verts BAE
Bale Dembele Parker Siggy
Holtby
Defoe
Disagree with me? Let me know in the comments!
Prediction: It's going to be tight. I've been saying all week that a draw wouldn't be the worst result, but I can see us scraping a win. If our center-backs are as solid as they have been recently, then they might frustrate Suarez, and I think between Bale and Defoe we have enough fire-power to break them down at the other end. I mean Carragher's 54 for Christ's sake. 1-0 Spurs.
COYS!
Follow me on Twitter @hotshothotspur
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