Saints At Tottenham Hotspur The Preview Saturday, 18th Mar 2017 11:30 We travel to White Hart Lane to take on Spurs in our second and last game of the month, one thing that we can't complain about in this one is tiredness. Technically this is the hardest league game on the road of the season given that Spurs have the best home record in the Premier League at the moment, however we have the chance to put a dent in that. Yes it will be tough but the first hope is that having secured a record breaking 9 Premier League wins in a row at White Hart Lane, that they will have lost a little bit of the edge that has driven them to that record. Certainly Everton showed that perhaps thy had when they pulled back two late goals in the last game there, not enough to get a point, but enough to suggest that Spurs are not invincible. The biggest factor though could be the absence of Harry Kane his 19 goals in 22 appearances has been crucial to Spurs rise up the table, indeed it represents well over a third of the53 goals Spurs have scored in the Premier League this season and although they have other strikers and goal scoring threats, that is a hell of a total to lose. One thing that did surprise me when looking at the League table going into this game is that Spurs are the lowest scoring of the top six sides, I would have thought that it would be the opposite, but they are joint bottom of that mini league with Manchester City with the other four teams all scoring more. But they are the joint tightest defence along with Chelsea, only 20 goals let in all season. But the loss of Kane will help Saints and Manolo Gabbiadini could be the key to unlocking that tight defence. I would hope that we will see the debut of Martin Caceres, we are too sloppy at the back and the great win at Watford was tainted by the conceding of three sloppy goals that really should have been prevented, we have to concentrate at the back and we have to get tight for the entire 90 minutes, that did not happen at Watford and it did not happen at Wembley. Claude Pule in recent weeks has changed the formation a little, that tweak has changed the way we play with Gabbiadini being the missing link, we have the confidence to go forward now and score goals, add to that the inclusion of four of our players in the England squad and we have a team with not only a point to prove to themselves but also the fans and their international managers. Nathan Redmond and James Ward Prowse have not been the crowd favourites this season for one reason or another, but their England call up will give them a boost to go out on Sunday and show Gareth Southgate just what they can do. This will undoubtedly be a tough game, but one if we can get something out of will give us a great platform to launch an assault on the top ten, today may see us drop out depending on other results, but we will have as many as three games in hand on some clubs. 7th this season could perhaps be beyond us, but 8th is a good target to aim for and achievable, but we have to show that we are able to go to the top clubs, keep it tight and get a result. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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