- Oct 17, 2006
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SPURS 3-0 LEEDS
Kane, Son, Toby
Kane, Son, Toby
Spurs: Lloris (c), Doherty, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies, Hojbjerg, Winks (Sissoko), Ndombele (Lucas), Bergwijn, Son, Kane (Vinicius).
Subs: Hart, Rodon, Tanganga, Reguilon, Gedson, Dele.
Leeds: Meslier, Alioski, Ayling, Struijk, Dallas, Phillips, Klich, Raphinha, Rodrigo, Harrison, Bamford.
Subs: Casilla, Jenkins, Casey, Huggins, Cresswell, Shackleton, Costa, Hernandez, Poveda.
Official Site Match Centre
Two changes from Wolves last weekend, with Alderweireld and Bergwijn returning in place of Sanchez and Reguilon.
REFEREE: ------- David Coote ???????
TEAM FROM: - Spurs - DLLWD ----- Leeds - LWLWW ----- (All competitions)
We will be aiming to kick off the New Year on the right foot when we welcome Leeds United to North London for Saturday's Premier League encounter. The visitors trounced West Bromwich Albion 5-0 in midweek, whereas our clash with Fulham was postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak in the Cottagers' camp.
The visit of Fulham would have represented the perfect opportunity for us to return to winning ways and end the year on a high note, but as was the case with numerous fixtures in midweek, our derby had to be called off after Fulham reported several coronavirus cases.
On the other hand, our men would have been thankful for a few more days of rest after a gruelling encounter with Wolverhampton Wanderers, in which Jose set us up to defend and did not reap the rewards. Ndombele took just 57 seconds to break the deadlock at Molineux last Sunday, but Wolves deservedly levelled through Romain Saiss in the dying embers of the match, and Mourinho once again drew heavy criticism for his perceived negative style of play. We have since slipped out of the title race amid an underwhelming spell of form, and that draw with Wolves stretched our winless run in the top flight to four matches since a 2-0 North London derby win over Arsenal earlier this month. Having been neck-and-neck with Liverpool for the majority of the campaign so far, we now find ourselves 7 points adrift of the champions, although a place in the top four is still within our reach.
Meanwhile, West Bromwich Albion's rearguard produced a stellar performance to restrict Liverpool to a solitary goal last weekend, but the Baggies defence was breached all to easily by Leeds. Aside from their narrow 1-0 over Burnley last weekend, Leeds simply do not do low-scoring affairs, and Bielsa's talented attacking contingent are sure to fancy their chances against our side who have become renowned for sitting back. However, Leeds' defensive frailties are very much still there - West Brom are the only team to have shipped more goals than the Whites this season - but the 30 strikes that Bielsa's men have chalked up at the correct end of the field can only be bettered by Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea. Leeds have risen to 11th in the table after taking nine points from their last four matches, and should West Ham suffer defeat at Everton on today, the Whites would leapfrog the capital outfit if they can at least hold us to a draw this weekend.
Mourinho opted to deploy a three-man defence against Wolves, but it would not be a surprise to see the Spurs manager revert to a 4-2-3-1 here after last weekend's disappointing result. Bale and Lo Celso are both set to remain on the sidelines for another couple of weeks at least, and there are also doubts over the fitness of Brazilian attackers Vinitius and Moura, but both players are expected to be fine. Several changes from the draw at Molineux can be expected on our end, with Aurier, Sissoko and Bergwijn potentially coming back into the team.
Banner Courtesy of @chrissivad
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