Tottenham v Shakhtar Donetsk – Preview

Tottenham go into tonight’s UEFA Cup Round of 32 second leg against Shakhtar Donetsk, with a 2-0 deficit to overturn. Harry Redknapp has repeatedly made it abundantly clear that Premier League survival is his main priority and, with the Carling Cup final on Sunday, is expected to field a weekened team, as he did in Ukraine. The club got progressed two rounds further than this last year, and would crush the fans if they throw tradition to the wind, and surrender their place in the competition.

Team News

There are still a number of first-team players missing, as Vedran Corluka, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Robbie Keane, Ricardo Rocha, Adel Taarabt and Ben Alnwick are all inelligable for the competition. Alan Hutton and Jermain Defoe remain unavailable due to long-term injuries. The big news, though, is that midfielder Jamie O’Hara is in contention for a starting place, after returning from a hip/grown injury.

O’Hara missed out on Wembley last season

He is unlikely to start, however, as he will probably be saved for Sunday’s game, along with the likes of Aaron Lennon, Wilson Palacios, Luka Modric and Ledley King. Giovani Dos Santos should be given another chance to impress, though, whilst John Bostock could feature on the bench. So I beleive Redknapp will go with:

                                              Gomes

Gunter                    Dawson                    Huddlestone                    Chimbonda

Bentley                    Zokora                        Jenas                                   Giovani

                               Campbell                   Bent

Spurs did themselves no favours in Ukraine, conceding two late goals after a distinctly average performance, but if the team crashes out of the UEFA Cup, most of the fans’ blame will fall on Redknapp’s shoulders. Although, Giovani beleives we can overturn the margain.

Gio wants to impress, after Harry tried to sell him in January

“I think we have every chance to win the game with the confidence we have as a team and we need our fans to play their part as they always do,” said ‘Gio’.

“It’s good that we are back at home where the pitch will be much more suited to our style of play than it was out there. If we play at our best, we can turn this tie around.

“Anything can happen in this competition and we want to show the rest of Europe what we are made of in this game.

“Shakhtar are a very good team technically with a lot of talented Brazilian players, but they have weaknesses that we can exploit.

“For me, it’s a great opportunity to impress in a big game. I’m fit and ready and want to give something back to the fans.”

My Verdict: I feel it will be an end-to-end match, with Tottenham needing to go for the win. But I beleive the deficit will prove too much, with us winning 2-1, which would not be enough.