Preview: Swansea (Away)

Well hello there Spurs family!

A four-day weekend AND the return of the Premier League. Excuse me while I 'woop'.

WOOP WOOP.

I don't know what you've all got planned for Easter, but I'll be shocked if I can't guess what's on your mind right now - Swansea. Must. Win. Ahhhhh.

I was right wasn't I?

Anyway, enough about me and you, this is about the team. This is about qualifying for the Champions League, and above all else this is about NOT FUCKING IT UP AGAIN.

8 games left and as Hugo Lloris says in the Daily Fail today, "They are like eight finals". Our first final takes place away at Swansea tomorrow, and we have to bounce back from three straight defeats. Lloris reckons,

"We did very well for 12 games and we lost against Liverpool and Fulham, but the most important thing is the reaction. I think the international break was a good thing for us, to help us find energy for the end of the season."

Hugo 'best keeper in the league' Lloris

As I've mentioned before, I don't fully buy the idea that we were on flying form before the Liverpool game. We had a few players on top form and they were pulling us through with last minute goals and screamers, but  as a team we weren't dominating games, even against poor opposition. I do however believe that the international break came at a good time for the lads. Heads were surely down after the Foolham game, and a rest from the pressure of the Premier League can't have been a bad thing. It also allowed some of the boys to find goal-scoring form, something we need desperately in the run-in.

AVB's had this to say,

"It shifts very quickly for any team in the Premier League who does not get results.  The fact we have had these results recently has put people closer to us but we have been under pressure before and we built a gap which has been shortened now. We believe in our team and we haven't lost our confidence. We just have to make sure we get the minimum amount of points to be within that range of 70 points at the end of the season."

Can't argue with any of that.

Right, a bit of team news me thinks. All good really. Dawson and Lennon are both back and likely to start. Daws missed out on a rare England cap thanks to a hamstring problem. The boy Bale picked up a knock on international duty, but he is 100% fit. Also, Kaboul has fully taken part in training sessions the last few days, and AVB has suggested that he may return to match fitness in the next 10-15 days. Younes was superb for us last season, and in my opinion he's been sorely missed.

Apparently Swansea's only real team news is that centre-back Chico Flores is likely to make a 'timely-return'. Yeah, just in time to see us put five past you, ya big girly-named Spanish prick.

This is the team I'd go with if I was AVB. Just to clarify, I'm not AVB. I'm far less attractive.

Hugo

Walker  Dawson  Verts  BAE

Lennon  Parker  Dembele  Bale

Siggy

      

      Defoe

But that's just me. I assume AVB will play Gareth behind Defoe, but personally I feel he's better on the left, destroying whichever poor full-backs on duty, and he'll cut inside and have a shot regardless. Plus, Siggy showed that he's capable of contributing goals on a few occasions, not least when he scored two belters for Iceland last week. My biggest decision would be whether to play Siggy or Holtby in the no.10 role. Disagree? Let me know in the comments.

Prediction: 2-1 Spurs. I think we'll be nervous as our season is pretty much on the line, so I can see us conceding early on. But I'm hoping Dembele sees a lot of the ball and settles us down, and maybe just MAYBE, Defoe and Siggy will follow up their international goals with one or two here. If not, it will be once again down to Gareth to produce some magic. That's still probably where the smart money is - he is from Cardiff after all.

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