Benfica are one of those sides who have passages of play that leave you wondering why they aren’t challenging the Barcelonas of this world – they clearly don’t have the mettle for such consistency but, as they proved at White Hart Lane, they can tear anyone apart on their day.
So, at 3-1 down, is Tim Sherwood going all out for the win? Well, looking at the league table and the form of their lofty peers, a top four finish looks pretty much out of the question at this point. So Tim Sherwood’s only other sure way of retaining his job as Tottenham manager beyond the summer is to win the Europa League. That should give us our answer as to how seriously he’s taking the tie.
But, to confound matters, Tottenham have an injury list which is longer than a daddy gibbon’s arm. They have a particular paucity in the defence – Younes Kaboul, Vlad Chiriches, Michael Dawson and Jan Vertonghen are all sidelined and some think that Sandro will have to play in the back four. Kyle Walker may also miss out through injury at full back.
Up front Soldado should come in for the injured Emmanuel Adebayor.
So it’s going to be a tough one for Tottenham. But, as we have already suggested, while Benfica can be brilliant they aren’t a top class side. A big Tottenham win is possible and we will certainly be glued to the set.
So here’s our strongest starting XI – fitness permitting. Full of pace and attacking intent. Discuss….
Tottenham – Friedel, Rose, Fryers, Sandro, Naughton, Lennon, Bentaleb, Sigurdsson, Townsend, Eriksen, Soldado
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Tony Borg
Mar 20, 2014 at 7:09 pm
I’ve been going through the Spurs team and it doesn’t look good,
Naughton, Rose, Walker, Dawson, Townsend, Paulinho, Chadli, Soldado, Lennon, Fryers, Sigurdsson and Kane all need to go, they aren’t good enough to be playing for Spurs. When you think of all the players we’ve let go over the last few years it hits home how much the Spurs fans are being short changed. We really need to change the men at the top. LEVY OUT !!!! ENIC OUT !!!!