Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton

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Sunday 19th March 2.15pm
Premier League
White Hart Lane​

We may have just witnessed the last ever FA Cup tie at the Lane and if we did, then we signed off on a high.
The 6-0 demolition of Millwall maintained our unbeaten run at the ground, which has lasted all season.
Makes you wonder what could've been if we'd have played our Champions League games there, doesn't it?
Still, another week, another Sunday game and another visitor to the current ground.

Saints arrive on rather mixed form, having seen some up and down performances in recent weeks.
A very presentable effort in the League Cup final was sandwiched by games in which they scored four goals.
They also lost to West Ham and Swansea before that and got smashed by Arsenal in the FA Cup, though.
A rather unpredictable side at the moment, but bolstered recently by the arrival of Gabbiadini, undoubtedly.

Our trip to St Mary's earlier in the season started appalling and things looked grim early on.
We didn't compete at all and deservedly went behind to a van Dijk header after a little over a minute.
The first 15 minutes was torrid and we could easily have gone further behind, as our hosts spurned chances.
Redmond had their best, shooting just wide after a jinking run.

The momentum swung just after that though, as Dele Alli equalised with a great header.
Then it was suddenly one-way traffic in the other direction and we were unlucky not to lead at the break.
Kane headed us into the lead early in the second half, then missed a penalty, as Redmond saw red.
Son and Alli killed it off late on and deservedly put some shine on the scoreline.

The game at the Lane last season was something of a reverse of that, as we started well, then threw it away.
Lamela's through ball was ignored by Kane, allowing Son to slip through and beat the keeper early on.
The side strolled through the half and were looking comfortable, before a break allowed Davis to equalise.
The rest of the game continued in a similar manner, until Davis struck again with 20 minutes remaining.
A team on holiday, beaten by one with something to play for? Maybe, but it showed a weak mentality.

Neither side has any suspensions for this one.
We'll be missing Kane, Rose and Lamela through injury, though.
They have van Dijk, Targett, Austin, Pied and McCarthy out.

Spurs: Lloris; Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Walker, Wanyama, Dembele, Davies; Eriksen, Alli; Kane.
Subs: Vorm, Trippier, Wimmer, Winks, Sissoko, Son, Janssen.
League form: DDWLWW.

Saints: Forster; Soares, Stephens, Yoshida, Bertrand; Davis, Romeu; Ward-Prowse, Tadic, Redmond; Gabbiadini.
Subs: Hassen, Carceres, Clasie, McQueen, Boufal, Rodriguez, Long.
League form: LWLLWW.

Referee: Andre Marriner.

TV: Sky Sports 1.

How do we address Kane's injury?
Does Son or Janssen come in for him in a straight swap or do we need a tactical adjustment?
Is there anything that we need to address specifically for Southampton?

 

Right red and white stripes, wrong team.
No Paul Stewart

 

I didn't know this until reading about MP's press conference just now....

How did Walker injure himself?
That is a private matter. After the day off Monday he arrived with a problem in his ankle, couldn’t train during the week. We need to assess tomorrow, we’ll see if he is available.

No Rose, Walker and Kane would be worrying. We need to get at them early and get ahead to show there's no weakness and that there's no hope in digging in. No more Fonte and an injured Van Dyke means there should be opportunities for us to get at them. It's imperative that we get a win in our first game without HK, before 2 games against relegation threatened sides.

 

Seems as though the footballing gods have decided to hit us again with injuries just like the start of the season, here's hoping both Walker and Wanyama are cleared to play.

Hopefully go with:

Hugo
Dier, Toby, Jan
Walker, Wanyama, Dembele, Davies
Alli, Eriksen
Son

Vorm, Tripps, Kev, Winks, GKN, Onomah, Janssen

 

I am hoping that's a Poch language issue and that he just means it happened off the pitch. Otherwise it opens up all sorts of possibilities!!

 

Wanyama's a potential doubt too

 

Some more classic Pochettino Narrative (TM) destroying.

 

If Walker and Wanyama don't make it, then I'd still stick with the same system.
Stick Wimmer into the back three, play Dier in the holding role and give Trippier another game at right-wingback.
His deliveries have been causing teams endless problems and his confidence seems to be growing, too.
Start with Son up top and don't be scared to bring Janssen on quite early if it's not working.

 

Son clearly deserves the start, but there has been a pattern to his thriving as a sub, then disappointing as a starter. I'm hoping another trend is at work: he scores when he's the focus of the attack and struggles when he's not. I don't think Janssen's ready for a major role, frankly. If we're lucky, he will be next year. His last header demonstrated that, I thought. He hit it solidly and into the ground but very near the keeper. That's good enough for the Eredivisie, not the PL. Headers much like that one have failed to get past PL keepers half a dozen times this year. On the other hand, a front three of Son, Alli and Eriksen can cause better teams than Millwall all kinds of problems if two of the three have their heads on straight.

 

Like should he have been hanging off the chandeliers that Rodney installed.

 

This season I have been to white hart lane to watch;
Spurs v palace w 1-0
Spurs v hull w 3-0
Spurs v Burnley w 2-1
Spurs v Wycombe w 4-3
Spurs v millwall w 6-0

Guess where I am on my way to...

Cooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeee
Oooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
Yooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Spuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrsssssssssssss

 

You were also at the Gent game if I recall correctly

 

Not at White Hart Lane, to be fair.

 

Your appointment with the wicker man ??

 

Walker, Dembele and Son start.

 

Mood killer

 

I predict that (barring injury) Winks will replace Dembele in the 73rd minute.

 

Good selection and relieved that Walker and Wanyama are fit to play. Earlier this season the loss of Kane inspired us to revert to 4 at the back - numerous insipid draws later and it would appear that Poch has realised that system over-rides personnel.

I'm quietly confident about today. I think the strength at the back and movement of the front 3 will be too much for Soton.

COYS

 

Line up I'd pretty much hoped for.

Son needs to step up today. Don't wanna see one of "those" games from him, like we've seen so often when he starts.

What does Onomah do to warrant a place on the bench? I'm still yet to see what he offers.

 

Not being injured?

If we had Lamela available it's highly unlikely Onomah would be on the bench today. Similar can be said for GKN's phantom knee injury.