Tottenham v Burnley – Match Preview

In the second game of a two-match Premiership break for Spurs, Owen Coyle’s Burnley side travel East to the capital. A place where they have had a lot of joy in this season’s magnificent Carling Cup run, knocking out three London clubs including Chelsea and Arsenal. The competition holders boast wins against two Premiership sides on their way to the semi-finals, including a magical 4-2 win against Liverpool. As I say, Burnley have defeated two ‘top four’ clubs, but both matches were at Turf Moor.

But the semi-finals of the competition involve two legs, with both home and away matches deciding who reaches that illusive final. This will probably suit the North London-based club, and with the first leg at home, Harry Redknapp will be looking to take a strong lead to Lancashire.

The Team

Although he has continuously persisted with the out-of-form David Bentley, Harry Redknapp has pinpointed Aaron Lennon as the weapon that can tear Burnley to shreds.

He said: “I have been pleased with Aaron and very impressed by him. He has that ability to go at people.

“And there is more to come from him.

“His final ball needs working on and we are doing that on the training ground.”

Other than that, Benoit Assou-Ekotto is still suspended after being handed an early bath in the match against West Brom, so expect Gareth Bale to keep his place in the back four. With Darren Bent a doubt after picking up an injury against Wigan on Friday, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Fraizer Campbell have been working well together and have developed an understanding. Campbell’s pace can also be a key weapon in unlocking the stern Burnley defence. Tom Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas are both still on the physio’s table, so 4-4-2 is the most likely formation. Harry has been hesitant when it comes to playing Luka Modric in a traditional central midfield role, but he was happy with the way he performed in that role against Wigan.

Harry told tottenhamhotspur.com:”I played Luka in a basic 4-4-2 as a central midfield player and I’ve never done that with him before.

“It was a gamble but he showed enough at West Brom when we went down to 10 men, I dropped him into midfield and he coped great, it wasn’t a problem for him.

“I thought ‘let’s see if he can play in there’ with Zokora to give protection – he covers the ground, shuts players down.

“I think we can play Luka in there because he’s so good on the ball, he keeps the ball and is a great little footballer.

“He’s strong enough and certainly good enough. I can’t see any reason why he can’t play in there for us. He was terrific.”

The gaffer has also recently declared his admiration for flamboyant young Frenchman Adel Taarabt, and he could be handed a cameo role sometime in the second half if all goes well. I expect the team to look something like:

                           Gomes

Corluka     Dawson     Woodgate     Bale

Lennon      Zokora      Modric          Bentley

               Pavlyuchenko  Campbell

So, with Turf Moor a very difficult place to go, I think it is vital that Tottenham go out and attack the Championship outfit, and try to take a healthy two or three goal lead into that second leg. Providing the team performs like they did in the recent F.A. cup win, there can only be one winner.