Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa Pre-Match Thread

[Surrey Villain]

Gary Gardner to start?

Unlikely.  He will be needed tomorrow night.  They missed him badly last week and it would be a shame to miss out on the NextGen now.  It will be a tough test against Ajax even with him.

[Shrek]

The idea of Walker vs Warnock and Bale against Hutton seems pretty grim. 3-0 Spurs.

And Lennon

[Concrete John]

We're pretty potent upfront ourselves, so lets not forget that.  I think it's the midfield battle where we'll win or lose this.  Don't think it's a game for Heskey, so maybe Delph, Petrov and Herd to combat Parker, Modric and VDV?

[brontebilly]

Def not a game for Heskey. I'd bring in Delph or Clark in midfield.

I'd also consider giving Gardner his debut on the right if Gabby is out. Let's give him a feel for it.

[Hookeysmith]

On paper they look pretty impressive but as they say the game is not won on paper

We will need to start well and not give them any stupid goal start we need to get the midfield right as with heskey (although i thought he did very well against Norwich) the game will pass him buy as Spurs have the ability to pass around us. The way to nulify Walker going forward is to attack him every chance we get so Charlie boy needs to be on top of his game. Anyone who saw him last year know that Walker is always a threat but more often than not leaves huge holes in the space he vacates - Gabby should exploit this every chance he gets. I would also get as many crosses in as possible as Brad is awful coming off his line.
We have to accept that we are not going to go there and play them off the park so it will be a tough
battle and hope to catch them on the break

i can actually see us nicking something  2-1

[PaulWinch again]

I'm cautiously optimistic at the moment, I don't know why.

[MarkM]

2-0 home win I'm afraid

[German James]

I'm cautiously optimistic at the moment, I don't know why.

Me too... We're less likely to get away with silly defensive mistakes, and the midfield will have to be more sure of themselves too, but I think we should draw at least. We'd better: I'm making a night of it because German Sky's showing it, so I can go out to watch it!

[Simon Ward]

A scrappy draw will do me.

[N'ZMAV]

The idea of Walker vs Warnock and Bale against Hutton seems pretty grim. 3-0 Spurs.

Don't worry, N'Zogbia will help out by doing lots of tracking back...

[villajk]

I see the ref tomorrow is Mark Halsey. Just thought i'd warn you all in advance.

Wasn't looking to this at all and this has cheered me up no end....... NOT.

Weather's dreary, can't see how we can win and to top it all I  can't even have a drink to warm/cheer me up.

[Reuben]

The idea of Walker vs Warnock and Bale against Hutton seems pretty grim. 3-0 Spurs.

I thought Lichaj did a good job on Bale last season.  Perhaps we can bring him in like we only used to bring Bryan Small to play against Giggs (was it?)

[Concrete John]

The idea of Walker vs Warnock and Bale against Hutton seems pretty grim. 3-0 Spurs.

I thought Lichaj did a good job on Bale last season.  Perhaps we can bring him in like we only used to bring Bryan Small to play against Giggs (was it?)

And that went well with all those victories we had over Man Utd around that time!

[N'ZMAV]

The idea of Walker vs Warnock and Bale against Hutton seems pretty grim. 3-0 Spurs.

I thought Lichaj did a good job on Bale last season.  Perhaps we can bring him in like we only used to bring Bryan Small to play against Giggs (was it?)

It was VDV that did the damage against us last season. World Class on his day. I fear him.

[VillaAlways]

I've got a horrid feeling Gabby will be out