Can we make it 4 wins in a row when a “buzzin`” Spurs meet the worried Swans??.?
2 seasons ago we couldn`t take any points off the top 4. Last Season we took 8. This season if we can hold our form at the Lane and then take our chances in the top five away fixtures we might, just might, get closer to that magic 70 points plus this season??.! Our record against Swansea is excellent, Gary Monk`s side have suffered 3 defeats and a draw to Spurs in the last 4 seasons.
There is no doubt that after the City game we can push on from this result but a wounded Swansea will be no push over. However, another win will convert an indifferent start to our season into a really decent one. October could be the month that puts us right in the mix with an out of sorts Bin Dippers coming to the Lane and a trip down to sunny Bournemouth broken up by 2 key Europa League fixtures. The last time we won four in a row was back in January 2014 – the final game of that run was a 3-1 victory against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium. However, and there is always a but with Spurs, just when we get a bit of momentum we are back to one Striker with Son out for a “few weeks” return date unknown! So we now look to see if N`Jie can add some pace up front.
Swansea are winless in their last four games in all competitions since beating Manchester United 2-1 at the Liberty Stadium back in August, taking just one point from the previous three league matches. Monks side`s recent lack of penetration and dynamism in attack is a big concern. Monk is struggling with his formations.
There is no doubt that Swansea are not the same team when their engine, Gylfi Sigurdsson, is misfiring behind his usual attacking role with Gomis – Gomis and Ayew have also gone quiet. Ki made a start in the 3-1 defeat at Southampton last Saturday as Monk made a switch to the diamond 4-4-2 formation, but Ki has been struggling to get a place when 4-2-3-1 has been used. Poch`s formation of 4 2 3 1 is working but both Wing`s must track back and support the full backs.
Bambi (aka Lamela) still serves to confuse me as he seems to mix his game up with losing the ball and then running back to try and regain it and then stealing the ball from the opposition and setting up a classy pass or just being where Harry should be. If Lamela could just figure out in his head when to support Walker and when to go forward he might start to make some sense. The good news is that we are also starting to see some joined up thinking with partnerships forming in several parts of the pitch.
Alderwald and Vertonghen are almost but not quite solid because we still continue to be opened up at the back. We still suffer from allowing attacking players to get in behind us. Our CB`s have been helped by the emergence of Eric Dier in the holding midfield role and Davies to is going to keep Rose out for some time. Dier and Alli are starting to look like they just might give Spurs the spine we need to add some structure up the middle of the pitch with Eriksen at the top. Son and, dare I say Lamela, do look like a good front 3 with Harry but what about N`Jie? N`Jie could be a really great impact player coming on for the last 3rd of the match to run at a tiring defence.
Having played almost the entire first team against Monaco will they be fresh enough to get a result at Swansea. We don`t want to lose momentum with the Manchester City result having given us back some credibility so another result at Swansea is important, however, Spurs without Son will mean going back to the start of the season combination of Eriksen, Chadli and Lamela behind Kane. However, Deli Alli has run further than any other Spurs player in each of our last two Premier League games, and against Manchester City he covered 13.4km – the second furthest of any Premier League player in a game this season. That kind of work rate is essential for us as, without Son, we have no pace on the left, no speed through the middle just Walker bombing up the right if allowed!
It all depends on how offensive Poch wants us to play as he also has Nabil Bentaleb, Mousa Dembele and Ryan Mason ready to return so Dembele could play a part to replace Eriksen at some point during the game and maybe Mason to shore up the midfield if we get our noses in front. Swansea have had a week to prepare for this game so expect a tight game and a result that will be in the balance right up to the final whistle.
Written by OyVeh Maria
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