Spurs v Sheffield United match preview

By Lev
August 21 2006

Tottenham go into their first home game of the season hoping to shake off the disappointment of their poor loss to Bolton by achieving their first three points of the campaign.

Tottenham go into their first home game of the season hoping to shake off the disappointment of their poor loss to Bolton by achieving their first three points of the campaign. Martin Jol’s team will be dejected with their opening performance, but with only two full days between the two matches, and with the home crowd hoping to see a marked improvement this time around, they will have to forget their defeat quickly and look to come away from White Hart Lane with an important win under their belts.

Spurs will welcome back Teemu Tainio from yet another short spell out with injury. Jol will have a choice to make between him and Edgar Davids for the left midfield position, with there having still not been a natural left sided midfielder added to the squad. Robbie Keane will also be chirping in his manager’s ear though, and Jol may use the Irishman in an advanced midfield position instead of one of these two combative midfielders. Jermain Defoe seems to have cemented his place alongside new signing Dimitar Berbatov, for the time being, at least, and so this may be the only way Keane can gain a place in the starting line-up. Tottenham are not expected to make any other changes to the team that begun the game at the Reebok and, as a result, the Spurs’ Head Coach will look to see improved performances from the likes of Jermaine Jenas and Didier Zokora.

Sheffield United, on the other hand, made a completely different start to the season to their opponents, with a confidence-boosting performance and, maybe more importantly, a point, against title-chasing Liverpool. Neil Warnock’s side will look to continue their good form and will hope, at the very least, to take a share of the spoils from the game.

Players such as Phil Jagielka, a former England under-21 international, goalscorer Rob Hulse and, ironically for Spurs’ supporters, Chris Armstrong, (he’s a left winger as well), impressed against the five-times European Cup Winners, and their passionate manager will look for the same level of performance from these players and the rest of the team. It may be interesting to see how they cope with their first away game in the Premiership, and they may miss their magnificent support from the record crowd that arrived at Bramall Lane on Saturday.

This may be a deciding factor in terms of the result, with Tottenham having only lost two games at home in the Premiership last season. This, with a necessity to get their season up and running, leads me to the conclusion that Spurs will indeed come away with their first win of the season. I predict a score line of 2-0, with the players reigniting the confidence of their loyal fans.