BURNLEY V TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR PREMIER LEAGUE MONDAY 26 OCTOBER TURF MOOR KICK-OFF: 8.00PM GMT THFC Injuries - Eric Dier (25%, thigh) - Japhet Tangana (out, thigh) Burnley Injuries - Jack Cork (out, ankle/foot) - Ben Mee (out, thigh) - Phil Bardsley (25%, COVID) - Matt Lowton (75%, knee) - Bailey Peacock-Farrell (50%, hip) - Erik Pieters (50%, calf) Form (all comps) THFC - WDWWD Burnley - DLLL Officials Referee: Michael Oliver Assistants: Stuart Burt, Simon Bennett Fourth official: Kevin Friend VAR: Craig Pawson Assistant VAR: Adam Nunn Odds (for entertainment purposes only) Tottenham win: -159 Draw: +310 West Ham: +475 Next up for Spurs is a trip to Turf Moor. I still have flashbacks to Brian Jensen standing on his multiple times, especially in the Carling Cup. I doubt Dier is back for this match, so I'm expecting Toby & Davinson in the middle of the defense. I think Rodon gets the nod for a bench spot. Higher up, Kane is a lock, especially given his Thursday break (it's soooooo nice to say that). I'll go with this: ek's predicted XI Lloris Aurier - Alderweireld - Sanchez - Reguilon Ndombele - Hojbjerg Bale - Lo Celso - Son Kane PL Match Center Tottenham Preview This match will be streamed on PEACOCK in the US.
Food for thought - Ben Davies looked good at CB last night (and he plays in a back 3 for Wales. Sanchez is a decent defender, but he is always good for at least one ricket a game. It's hard to say what our best CB pairing is and what our best back 4 is, especially with Tanganga out. Fantasy World Golara would love a back 4 of Doherty-Tanganga-Rodon-Reguilon, but Reality World Golara is haunted by nightmares of Aurier-Dier-Sanchez gaffes...
Old news on a Spurs board, but no Alli even on the bench? Has Mourinho just said to hell with the kid? He's not injured currently. What's Jose's beef with the kid?
No Winks or Sanchez, either. We have another game in just three days. I wouldn't read too much into it.
Mourinho has a history of not being able to handle certain talent. But yeah, Spurs struggling to score against Burnley even with Son, Kane, and Bale as an option. It is almost as if removing Dele Alli from the squad was a bad idea...
I am really just surprised our defence held on to a lead. It needs Kane back there because it can't defend corners or free-kicks. I wonder who took the corner for us. There was a post earlier talking about Davies in a 3 for Wales, and I genuinely would like Spurs to play 3-4-3, with Dele Alli as one of the front three, but it will never happen.
Good 3 pts to pick up... Up to 5th and only 2 pts off top with a good GD. Early days but if we can keep scoring and get our defense in gear the GD could be crucial down the road in the league race. COYS!
Not surprised to see Sanchez, Winks and Aurier out, they were the boneheads whose gaffes cost us against West Ham. Jose was always going to field as error-proof a team as possible against Burnley, who were set up perfectly to capitalize on blunders from us which never came. I have dug out Dier a lot, but he was excellent tonight, both he and Toby handled the tough front 2 of Woods and Barnes. I think the less of Sanchez and Aurier we see in the defense, the better we'll be. And Lamela got in his customary rash foul with giving away a free-kick or getting booked. How do the Argentinians do it?
Yes, but he doesn't always show it, as with a lot of our players. Sometimes his corners don't beat the first man. As an amateur training player I could do better, depending if I got out of bed on the right side. In short he is playing with confidence.
I think when he does play, he is our best man for set piece delivery - remember, he has been injured most of his career and we also had Eriksen so he hasn't always been first choice on dead balls. My only complaint with him is he takes too long to release the ball on counter-attacks.
When I clicked on the 'Tottenham preview' link in Leckie's initial post about a half-hour before the match, it brought up a photo of a more-or-less empty James Hargreaves stand at Turf Moor on a wet (and presumably cold) Monday night. I've only been there once - that, too, on a wet cold Monday night - so that image took me straight back to Burnley 1-0 Newcastle Utd a couple years back. Newcastle had most of it that night - definitely looking the better side - but without creating many clearcut chances. It wasn't until Burnley scored around the 70th minute that you realized Rafa Benitez's 'superior' side were being well and truly beaten by Sean Dyche's compact, disciplined provincials. It wasn't pretty. Not for neutrals, that one. Frankly, I couldn't wait for it to end so I could get to a warm pub and a cold pint. I remember talking to an old Burnley fan afterward, expecting him to be pleased with the result, even if a little disappointed in the performance. I couldn't have been more wrong. He saw the result as nothing more than the just rewards for what had been actually been a very strong performance. It - his perspective of quality football - couldn't have been further removed from what is typically associated with ours (Spurs fans). But then, 'glory' is our supposed keynote, and with all respect, glory couldn't be further removed from Brunshaw Road, Burnley, Lancs. But they did what they did well, and you could sense the satisfaction in sending a Champions League-winning manager home with nothing ... which brings us to last night. Within 20 minutes (less, probably) one could tell that last night's game was going to be played out on Burnley's terms, not ours. One needn't be possessed of my levels of pessimism to have envisioned us dropping points last night. That we took all three points from that is in some ways more encouraging to me than the pounding we gave ManU at Old Trafford. Hardly as much fun, of course. But (and as Spursy as West Ham game turned out) this season might - might - be different. That's not optimism, mind - I'll not burden us with that. Just a casual post-match observation. Or, put more succinctly, I'm really pleased with yesterday's result.
With the players he has, Dyche doesn't really have any other way to play. The first season he came up and went straight back down, he played expansive football and while the Clarets were fun to watch, they were relegated. The second time around, he has built a more pragmatic side. Unlike some of our opponents (Southampton, Man U, Maccabi and LASK), they press intelligently and drop deep AND hold a high defensive line depending on where the ball is. We had 62% possession, but we were never comfortable in possession until we scored the goal - that was because they press intelligently and don't leave their back door open. They also are one of the few sides that play 2 up top and while our CBs did a number on them, a lot of weaker sides will go there and get rag-dolled this season.