Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley

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Saturday 23rd February 12.30pm
Premier League
Turf Moor​

We were surprisingly successful against Dortmund and the subsequent break seems to have been useful.
The early kick-off also gives us an opportunity to get the jump on those around us in the league.
City face Chelsea in the League Cup Final on Sunday, while Liverpool have a tough game against Man Utd.
Will we take advantage or will an in-form Burnley derail our ambitions?

Sean Dyche lead his side into Europe at the start of this campaign and it seemed to hurt their form badly.
It was Burnley's first foray into European football since the '60s and they weren't prepared for it at all.
Qualification rounds against Aberdeen and Istanbul Basaksehir were edged through but it wasn't enough.
Olympiacos are regulars at this sort of thing and it showed, as they dispatched the English club comfortably.

The extra demands took their toll on Burnley's domestic form and they struggled to get off the mark.
A solitary point from the first five games and early disqualification from the League Cup to Burton followed.
A slow recovery saw them win only three from the next fourteen league games, too.
Any pressure that Dyche may have been feeling has been relieved in the last seven games, though.
Four wins and three draws has pulled them out of the relegation zone and restored their morale.

Avoiding relegation is surely their aim for this season and a draw here would be a decent result for them.
The first goal could be extremely important, as spoiling tactics and timewasting are expected.
We must also look out for the threat of our old players, Peter Crouch and Aaron Lennon.
Quick breaks and an aerial threat on set-pieces have troubled us this season.

The game at Wembley earlier in the season was an exercise in frustration.
We dominated territory, possession and chances, at Burnley set out to stifle our game and were quite successful.
They didn't manage a shot on target themselves, but restricted us to only three.
The bus was finally unparked in the 91st minute, as Eriksen swept home Kane's pass:

Our visit to Turf Moor in the last campaign was less stressful, as we broke the deadlock early on.
Dele Alli was fouled in the box in the 6th minute and Harry Kane dispatched the resultant penalty.
They kept things tight again though, making us wait until the 69th minute for the second goal.
Sissoko's through ball found Kane in lots of space outside box and he took it well.
His and our third came ten minutes later, as he finished the game off with a left-footed strike:

Alli is still out for this one, but Kane and Davies have returned to training.
Rose has been ill and will be assessed.
Steven Defour misses out for Burnley. Neither side has any suspensions.

Lineups for each side's last league game:

Spurs: Lloris; Trippier, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Rose; Winks, Sissoko, Skipp, Eriksen; Son, Llorente.
Subs: Gazzaniga, Walker-Peters, Aurier, Alderweireld, Foyth, Wanyama, Moura.
League form: WLWWWW.

Burnley: Heaton; Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Hendrick, Westwood, Cork, McNeil; Barnes, Wood.
Subs: Hart, Lowton, Ward, Long, Gibson, Vydra, Crouch.
League form: WWDDDW.

Referee: Mike ****ing Dean.

TV: Sky Sports.

This is our first game in a while and we've got three big games coming up, so how should we approach it?
Would you go with a back three or a back four? One up front or two?
Should we risk Kane at all, bench him or throw him back into the starting lineup?

 

Dreading a Lennon/Crouchie "Ooh, pericolo" moment.
That aside, based on last season they will not be able to do
busparquet at home (lest the home crowd get riled) .

Do not want to risk Kane at all (Chelsky game at the earliest, NLD more likely) .
Formation : anything that stops opposition strolling across the middle third with ease.

 

Feckin' Dean!!!
'Pericolo'

 

Paul Stewart

 

Suffer LDL and OS......

 

Was right behind the goal Eriksen scored in at Wembley.
Joe Hart was a complete cock with his time wasting so it was poetry watching him run around to take quick goalkicks in the final seconds.

They are in good form so not confident ... think we will need to score at least 3 as Woods and either Lennon or Crouch is bound to score.

 

You don't say

 

Is Lennon injured or out of favour? Haven't seen him for a while.

 

He injured his knee when we last played them, and reportedly needed surgery

 

Grrrrrrrrr

 

Piss off

 

Better quality clip of the goals from last season:

 

Who are those two?

 

Couple of new signings. Finally.

 

With LDL also absent, regard it as a "match week" where both you
and your immediate rival lost.

 

I hope we don't repeat last season where, the second Harry is back from injury, we rush him back into the starting xi and stunt the momentum we'd built up by having someone who's clearly not match fit as the focal point of the attack

Surely the best approach is to have him come on for the last 25 minutes against Burnley, and play it by ear in the two derbies

 

And if you are a good team-mate, you would do your utmost to put
the game out of reach by 60 mins to allow that possibility.

 

That would imply Joe Hart allows 60 minutes of play to take place...

 

Given he'll be on the bench i doubt he'll have much say. Tom Heaton looks a good keeper by the way. RCLd.