Ouch. Not a good time to be playing Southampton. And you would have to say that The Saints are the surprise package of the season so far.
After a summer of pure turbulence, meltdown almost, Southampton have miraculously risen from ashes. They have bought brilliantly and, under the tutelage of Ronald Koeman, they are performing even better than they did under Mauricio Pochettino. If Tottenham’s sporadically dodgy form continues perhaps there will be calls for Koeman for Tottenham!
Seriously though, we expect Pochettino to progress Spurs. He’s a brilliant coach and, providing he can communicate his ideas sufficiently well, Spurs will continue to improve as the season matures.
This one should be a cracker and Tottenham are in decent shape with no major additions to the injury list after the 1-1 draw with Besiktas on Thursday eve. With Danny Rose and Etienne Capoue close to recovery it’s only Kyle Walker who remains injured.
Expect a far stronger looking side to the one which Pochettino selected for The Europa League. Harry Kane, scorer on Thursday, is pushing for a starting berth after some excellent performances but Emmanuel Adebayor should get the nod this weekend.
So here’s our strongest XIs. Tottenham and Southampton fans: is this the side that you would pick?
