please log in to view this image Saturday 2nd December 3pm Premier League Vicarage Road 3 games, 1 point, broken up by an away win in the Champions League. Not a bad summary of how our season's been going so far, really. We've dropped out of the top four and been overtaken by Burnley, while Watford have moved within touching distance. Only 3 points separates the teams, though there is a substantial gap in goal difference. This feels like it could be quite a big game, as we move into a very busy period of the fixture list. Our hosts ended the last campaign in a serious slump, losing the last six games and only scoring in one of them. They responded by replacing Walter Mazzarri with the short-term Hull manager, Marco Silva. The Portuguese coach may not have been able to save the Tigers from relegation, but he gave it a good go. Not enough to keep them in the division, but enough to earn him another shot at it himself. He's grabbed the opportunity with both hands, so far. The Hornets have made some shrewd signings, played some attractive football and put points on the board. Young, Brazilian winger Richarlison has been particularly bright, scoring goals, creating chances and scaring defenders. They've looked a little leaky at the back at times, but games against City, Chelsea and Utd account for most of their conceded goals. A win against Arsenal and a draw with Liverpool show that they can compete with the better sides. Our visit to Vicarage Road in the last campaign was one of the most comfortable wins of the season. Chances were created at will and it was no surprise when Harry Kane put us ahead in the first half. Lack of concentration on a throw-in was all it took and a few minutes later that lead was doubled. Kieran Trippier provided the assist for both goals, as Kane put the finishing touch to each. Alli made it 3-0 before half-time, then 4-0 shortly after the break. A late Kaboul goal took off a little gloss. The home game was equally easy, as another four goals was fired past our former keeper, Heurelho Gomes. A fantastic opener from Dele Alli was fully deserved, as Vincent Janssen had already spurned a number of chances. Eric Dier smashed one home to make it 2-0 and Son added an equally good third, just before the break. Trippier continued to be a thorn in Watford's side, as he provided the ball for Son's second and our fourth. It could easily have been more, as the visitors struggled to put up much of a fight: Alderweireld and Wanyama are still unavailable, but Harry Winks has recovered from illness and could play. Will Hughes was injured in Watford's loss to Man Utd, while Miguel Britos missed that game and may miss our again. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Dier, Sanchez, Vertonghen; Aurier, Sissoko, Dembele, Rose; Eriksen, Alli; Kane. Subs: Vorm, Foyth, Davies, Trippier, Lamela, Son, Llorente. League form: WLWDLL. Watford: Gomes; Mariappa, Prodl, Kabasele; Femenia, Doucoure, Cleverly, Zeegelaar; Hughes, Gray, Richarlison. Subs: Karnezis, Janmaat, Wague, Capoue, Carrillo, Pereyra, Deeney. League form: LLLWWL. Referee: Martin Atkinson. TV: Not televised. Time to change tactics, personnel or formations? Should we persist with our fullback rotation or try to field a more settled side? Is there anyone that definitely shouldn't play and if so, who should replace them?
Best get started setting up a couple of hundred Twitter accounts so I can post tweets saying he's biased in favour of Watford...
Hughes out for them is excellent news. He's been quietly superb this season while Richarlison has grabbed all the headlines. I don't want to see the back-3-no-midfield combination again this calendar year, as Toby and Vic will be out until then. Hugo Trippier Dave Jan Davies Dier Winks Alli Kane Son Llorente Would be intriguing and may actually give them something to think about. Never happening though. Teflon Eriksen will once again start, although Lamela's return cheered me up immensely on Tuesday.
As @Blue and White says, in form against out of form. In addition, we’ve not got a lot of options to replace those players, yet we desperately need to. Lamela won’t start, as we’ll be easing him back in. However, son is one player who can come in for Eriksen or Alli. Personally, I don’t see either of those two being dropped, despite how poor they’ve been recently. Marco Silva has a very organised side now, and I’m sure the one thing he’ll be wary of is how Trippier has single handedly destroyed them in the last couple of games. Therefore I can’t see them allowing that to happen again and I’m expecting to see another disciplined team who negate his crosses. With form and rest considered, I would like to see us made 1 or 2 unexpected changes. I can’t see the harm in KWP playing, as he’ll be more of an unknown and offer us some unpredictability, which we desperately need right now. And to be honest, he deserves an opportunity too. Son is also a must for me, and I wouldn’t be opposed to using Foyth at some point to allow us to change shape, also potentially providing some further rest for one of our players at some stage in the game. It’ll never happen, but I would go with: Hugo KWP Sanchez Vertonghen Davies Dier Winks Son Kane Eriksen Llorente Whilst we’re not seeing anything from llorente at the moment, he also hasn’t has much game time, and a start might be what he needs.
I agree Llorente hasn't had much game time and is always thrown into ****ty situations or surrounded by reserves etc. In theory he needs to be better than Kane to shine in a worse situation
This will be our 22nd game of the season so far, I wonder if we will see our first penalty kick of season in this game?
Hopefully this will be a match that suits us, and I mean to credit Watford by saying that - they are unlikely to be parking any buses today and will try to go toe to toe in what could be a very entertaining match.
Nothing surprising there. Nice to see Dembele add a bit of strength to the midfield, although I expect he’ll be departing around 65 mins. This season, since being sponsored by Nike, a lot of the players have been using the hashtag “watch us rise”. At the moment we’re plummeting, so it’s about time we stepped up and lived up to that moto today. Fingers crossed we’re not about to witness another match like we’ve been put through in the last few weeks.
Who the hell knows? I'm glad to see Dembele start. He's been written off by a few on here which I think is premature. He went from being absolutely crucial to the team (so much so that the 2016 transfer window was all about "We need cover for Dembele - we're not the same without him") to apparently disposable. I wouldn't be massively surprised if he had a few good years at the club left in him yet. Maybe not but I don't think it's certain. And besides all our midfielders nowadays have the extra benefit of being NotSissoko. **** me that guy depresses me. One poster recently said he was our worst player since Rasiak. Thought it was harsh at the time but thinking of all our recent (last ten years or so) players that I've not rated he is actually way up there. So bad it seriously makes you wonder how he got this far in the game.
Fazio. How could I forget Fazio so soon? There was a player I wanted rid of nearly immediately. But even he just looked like a player in the wrong team playing the wrong system for him. I could believe that at some point since the age of 18 he looked useful. Was Sissoko really good (and big) for his age when he was young? Is that what it is? Is that how his career happened?
Fazio made 48 appearances for the Roma side that finished 2nd in Serie A last season. They conceded 38 goals in 38 league games, which was the 2nd best in the division. He's a good defender when they system and style of football suit him, as you suggest. High line in a pacey, open, physical league? Not so much.
