The Big e-Spurs Preview - Tottenham vs. AFC Bournemouth

From looking like capable Europa League winners to bowing out gracefully in a fortnight, it won’t really be clear for a couple of months whether Mauricio Pochettino’s rotation was worth it. Our exit was a disappointing end to our run in another Europa League campaign, with Pochettino admitting he’d perhaps made a mistake resting four key players in the first-leg 3-0 stuffing.

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Tottenham Hotspur v. AFC Bournemouth - Venue: White Hart Lane

Spurs haven’t finished higher than 4th since 1990, and the last time we won the title some kids in leather jackets with bowl haircuts were trying to make it at the Cavern Club. But this Spurs are different – in control, and mostly pummelling their Premier League opponents to submission.

In a season full of surprises, you would have to say Bournemouth being 13 points clear of the drop at this stage of the campaign is one of them.

It's always pleasing when a team that maximises its resources and tries to play constructively is rewarded, and their safety is almost assured now.

Only the current top two sides, Leicester and Tottenham, have earned more points since the start of December than Bournemouth's 28.

The Opposition

Full Name: AFC Bournemouth

Nickname(s): The Cherries, Boscombe

Founded: 1890; 126 years ago (as Boscombe St. John's Institute FC)

1899; 117 years ago (reformed; as Boscombe FC)

Ground: Dean Court

Capacity: 11,464

Owner: Maxim Demin

Chairman: Jeff Mostyn

Manager: Eddie Howe

League: Premier League

Current Position: 13th

Website Club home page

The Last 5 - Tottenham

Europa League - Tottenham 1-2 B. Dortmund

Premier League - A. Villa 0-2 Tottenham

Europa League - B. Dortmund 3-0 Tottenham

Premier League - Tottenham 2-2 Arsenal

Premier League - West Ham 1-0 Tottenham

The Last 5 - Bournemouth

Premier League - Bournemouth 3-2 Swansea

Premier League - Newcastle 1-3 Bournemouth

Premier League - Bournemouth 2-0 Southampton

Premier League - Watford 0-0 Bournemouth

FA Cup - Bournemouth 0-2 Everton

View of the e-Spurs Podcast Team

Jason's View

This week has seen us bow out of Europe to a much better and much more focused and hungry side to win the tie and the competition. Good luck to them, and I hope we see them again next year under entirely different circumstances.

Despite the rhetoric from the club the exclusion of Kane (wrongly so) in Germany, and again at 0-3 (this time rightly so) on Thursday highlighted our real desire to win the game, let alone the tie, just wasn’t there.

The excuses for dropping league points have now ended. We’re now out of a competition that despite being winnable is so despised by so many of our fans. Despised because of all the extra games it creates, despised because of the lack of preparation between PL games it gives us, despised because we never really look like winning it, despised by the difficulties of Thursday-Sunday, despised because we drop points in games on the back of it etc. etc. etc.

I understand all of that, but if we are in the Champions League next year, all of those same circumstances will be in place and apply. The CL is obviously more prestigious, more glamorous, and of course the entry music far better, but at the end of the day, the negative impacts just as valid.

2010/11 saw us win just 4 of the 12 games immediately after CL games, and included a 1-0 home loss to Wigan, a 3-1 defeat at Blackpool on the back of the AC Milan win, a 4-2 loss at Bolton on the back of Bale’s hat-trick in the San Siro. Our room to rotate and rest players in the group stage will be even less as you would expect the group to be far more competitive than those featuring Tromso, FC Sherif and Asteros Tripoli.

I am sure CL football will bring about squad improvements, but these are more likely to be 3-4 additions, rather than 8-9.

At least now, if we mess up and drop points, the old Europa League excuse can no longer be used.

Bournemouth this weekend in terms of winning the title becomes a must-win on the back of Leicester’s 1-0 win at Palace. You just knew Adebayor would prove to be worthless in the game. Leicester may be scraping out the wins, but there is no sign they are wilting under the pressure.

Since December 1st, only Leicester (37), and ourselves (33) have picked up more points than Bournemouth (28). They are the only team that have covered more distance per game than ourselves, have proved to be well organized and drilled, play their football in the so called correct manner, and that is despite losing several of their key players to major injuries.

Most games this season, we’ve found inspired goalkeeping performances against us, but at Bournemouth, we came up against the most inept performance by a keeper I have ever witnessed in PL football. Poor Chris Kirkland had no chance with any of the 9 we put past Wigan. Boruc at Bournemouth conceded 4 incredibly weak goals. He made even more than just those 4 mistakes. Not even Gomes at his worst came close to Boruc.

Free of relegation worry, Bournemouth will try to play an open game, they are not overly physical or robust and that should suit us. We will however have to be fully concentrated on our defending, and not allow Dier to get sucked out of position.

I can see a few goals in this game. I’ll go for a 3-1 hoping we score first, but am also prepared for a very nervy, edgy, difficult day if it is them that score first.

Stat Attack

- Bournemouth and Tottenham have only ever met twice: the Cherries won an FA Cup tie in 1957, while Spurs were 5-1 victors in this season's Premier League reverse fixture.

- Spurs have 58 points, their best tally after 30 matches of a top-flight season since 1984-85.

- Mauricio Pochettino's side have lost only two of their last 16 league games at White Hart Lane (W9, D5, L2).

Teams News - Tottenham

Tottenham will assess the fitness of Eric Dier, who suffered a knock against Borussia Dortmund on Thursday night.

Ben Davies took a blow to the face during that Europa League defeat and he is unlikely to play on Sunday.

Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Mousa Dembele and Kyle Walker will all return after being rested.

Teams News - Bournemouth

Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter is a doubt because of an Achilles problem, while Junior Stanislas is still sidelined by a hamstring injury.

Josh King could play just off the front man as a second striker while Lewis Grabban and Marc Pugh represent possible alternatives in attack.

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