Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley

please log in to view this image

Sunday 27th August 4pm
Premier League
Wembley Stadium​

Our first game at our temporary home didn't go to plan, so getting a result out of this one is key.
The Wembley Curse may not be real, but if we fail to win this one, then it may as well be.
Sean Dyche's side won't make things easy though, as Chelsea found out in their opening fixture.
It may not be pretty most of the time, but they can definitely be effective.

Burnley's first home game of the season didn't go to plan, either.
On something of a high following their unexpected victory at Stamford Bridge, they took on West Brom.
Pulis' side had also won their opening fixture and nothing could divide the two sides for most of the match.
A fairly dour tie was settled from the bench by Hal Robson-Kanu, who had quite an impact.
He came on just after the hour, scored the winner ten minutes later and was then sent off.

A potentially tricky derby game in the cup followed, as they faced a trip to Blackburn on Wednesday.
An early injury for John Walters threatened to unsettle them, but they took the lead midway through the half.
Jack Cork headed home from a Robbie Brady cross and the Irish winger netted himself just before half-time.
There was no way back for their lower league neighbours.
Kiwi striker Chris Wood replaced Walters following his injury and will probably start against us.

Our home game against Burnley last season was one of our trickier ties at the Lane.
We dominated possession and had a ton of chances, but they took the lead.
Ashley Barnes scrambled the ball home, as the defence made a series of uncharacteristic mistakes.
Dele Alli leveled it up quickly though, slotting home a Kyle Walker cross.
Danny Rose won it midway through the second half, after being put through by Moussa Sissoko.

The trip to Turf Moor was just as tough and it cost us Harry Winks for the rest of the season, too.
He followed Wanyama off the pitch in the first half, as both succumbed to injuries.
Having gone in at the break goalless, it fell to Eric Dier to break the stalemate, firing home from a poorly cleared corner.
Janssen joined the list of walking wounded shortly after and Son replaced him.
He tapped in the second and killed the game with one of his first touches, as Alli's ball found him perfectly.

Neither side has any suspensions for this one, but we'll be missing Rose, Lamela and N'Koudou through injury.
Our visitors have Walters missing and also Spurs old boy Dean Marney, unfortunately.

Lineups for each side's last league game:

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

Burnley: Heaton; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Ward; Gudmundsson, Cork, Hendrick, Defour, Brady; Vokes.
Subs: Pope, Taylor, Long, Westwood, Arfield, Barnes, Walters.

Referee: Lee Mason.

TV: Not televised.

Should we maintain the three at the back that we started with against Chelsea?
Do we need to make any changes to the personnel or just the system?
Is there anything that we need to change to make it easier to break down Burnley?

 

Paul Stewart

 

2 minutes. Not bad!

 

Pochettino press conference:

Paulo Assaneega? Ok.

 

...although at least two of those are a given at this point.

 

If Big Dave gets his permit sorted in time, I'd actually like to see him start. He'll have had about four sessions with the boys since signing and he should be match fit having had pre-season with Ajax. Not sure if Son is yet fit to start still, while I wouldn't risk starting Wanyama again as he clearly wasn't fit enough on Sunday.

Would go with:

Hugo
Sanchez, Toby, Jan
Tripps, Dier, Dembele, Davies
Alli, Eriksen
Kane

Let's have it lads, COYS.

 

Lots of rather loud whispers that Sanchez will be starting tomorrow, a decision that seems to have been brought forward by concerns over Wanyama's fitness. The advantage of signing a top CB is that Dier can now be drafted in as cover without sacrificing 3 at the back. I thought Alli was pretty poor against Chelsea and does have an annoying habit of coasting through games committing the occasional foul when things aren't going his way. Burnley are going to pack the channels and defend deep - and they are superbly organised when doing both. I would play Son to give us at least one player who can run faster than I can. I would also play Son so that I don't have to agree with DH's team selection.

Also, Lee Mason

 

There is no "Wembley curse". A string of results one way or the other can happen to anyone anywhere. As someone previously mentioned the stats behind it, the opposition have scored from a very high percentage of the shots on target. Restrict the shots on target to the same amount in every match and you can normally expect fewer of them to go in.

 

If, like you say, Burnley will defend deep, I don't wanna see a 3-5-2(of sorts) with Davies and Trippier as the wide men, supported by a back 3.
I'd rather see 4231 to allow some potential link up play with overlaps down the wings. If Trippier, in particular, can overlap and get in behind, allowing him to produce some of his deadly crosses, i I think we'll have more success in finding the net.
Might be worth son playing on the Left to support Davies in doing so, too.
If that doesn't work, change the shape and try a 352. I'm just not sure with that shape from the outset that Trippier and Davies are capable of causing enough problems on their own in the wide areas. They just aren't direct or fast enough, IMO.

I'd go with:

Lloris
Trippier Toby vertonghen Davies
Dembele Dier
Eriksen Alli Son
Kane

 

I'm going again today and very much hoping to see the slightly larger pitch work in our favour. WHL's pitch size encouraged less ambitious sides to try and pack out the area around their goal. That's slightly less easy at Wembley. We do need a good start and MUST SCORE FIRST!

COYS!

 

...unless you count the curse of being allocated some utterly ****e referees, which covers the FA Cup semi and the Gent match.

 

Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies, Dier
Dembélé, Son Heung-min, Alli, Eriksen, Kane.

Subs :

Sánchez, Janssen, Vorm Sissoko, Winks, Walker-Peters, Oakley-Boothe

 

Oakley-Boothe makes the bench?
No Wanyama.

 

Rose-Hughton was not ready for this one.

 

That bench today really shows the need for a couple of game changers to arrive this week

 

You got it spot on mate.

 

Really weak bench today. Even Lamela there would make a massive difference. Other than Winks, there isn't a single player there who can come on and add something different. Obviously Sissoko offers something different: the phenomenon of being a man down without receiving a red card.

Looking at the side, I'm.beginning to warm to Roo's argument that 3 at the back doesn't suit us when Davies and Trippier are both on the pitch. Son's inclusion is crucial as without him we have zero pace to cover Wembley's extra 5 yards (which DO make a differnce at this level).

Looks like the starting xi will have to do the job on their own today.

 

2 wins in 11 matches at the new Wembley is definitely an issue.

A nice 3-0 win here with Kane scoring in August too would be ideal.

I fear it won't be that straight forward though.

 

.poch told press Wanyama has slight knee injury

 

Am at Wem...ber....lee with my girls
Nice to see Burnley fans applaud Trippier...touch of class from them.