Here it is the game that every Saints fan looks forward to, the visit of Tottenham Hotspur, the devil's own agents on earth.

Apart from HMRC V Portsmouth Football Club in the High Court, there isn't a fixture that Saints fans look forward to more than a game against Spurs.

Th fixture has always had that extra edge for Saints fans since 2001 when Glenn Hoddle was poached in such an underhand manner and I suspect that for most Premier League clubs beating Spurs has a little more pleasure than most results.

Gone are the days when Tottenham Hotspur were seen as guardians of football in the way it should be played and the way that a football club should be run and Bill Nicholson would turn in his grave if he was the way the Club he turned from a run of the mill London club into something special was now run.

Sadly we have not had the pleasure of tasting victory since 2005 and now is as good a time as any to change that.

Sometimes when Southampton Football Club has its back to the wall it produces something special and perhaps Saturday afternoon will be that day, now is the time for payback for the last 18 months or so and the way that Spurs have tried to undermine our club, be it the way they tried to get Mauricio Pochetino without paying compensation or how they tried to entice Victor Wanyama for a pittance a few months ago.

The truth is we owe them one and now is the time to do it.

Neither club go into the game in good form, Saints as we know have not won for 4 Premier League games, 1 solitary draw against Aston Villa being sandwiched in between 3 defeats.

But Spurs have not done much better, in their last five games they have won only once that being a 4-1 demolition of West Ham at home, draws at Arsenal & West Brom plus a home draw against Chelsea culminated in a defeat to crisis club Newcastle last weekend.

So if we take the last six premier League games as a benchmark of current form as is the norm, Spurs have 9 points and Saints 7, not a lot of difference, yet Mauricio Pochetino is championed as doing great things this season at Spurs and we are being touted as a club in crisis, although in truth mainly be a small section of our own fans.

So we should go into this game with the confidence we can end this ghastly run and start to move up the league again, as I often say, a good team does not become a bad one overnight, form is temporary and class is permanent, we have had our issues this season, but overall we are a good squad and after a difficult start, we were getting into our stride.

So if we put out our strongest side and look to attack Spurs and cause them problems, there is no reason why we should not taste victory against Spurs for the first time in a decade.

Ronald Koeman has already intimated that he will be reverting to a back four , keep it simple, Soares, Fonte, Van Dijk & Bertrand is our best line up and we should stick to that.

In midfield it will be a little more difficult, I would go for a holding two of Wanyama and Romeu, to strong players to scrap for the ball.

The I would have Steven Davis sat in front to harass and move the ball quickly with Tadic and Mane wide, Pelle up front if recovered is a must.

That is the side that less than a month ago was 2nd in the current form tables, it can take on ad beat anyone, all it needs is that break to rediscover its confidence and verve, if it get that break then we can win this game and win it well.

The bench also will be crucial and we will have variety there, JWP & Jordy Clasie offer midfield cover, Juanmi & Long attacking options and then 2 out of 3 for defensive cover, personally I think we need Targett as we are short of full back cover and then a choice between Caulker & Yoshida, I would go for Caulker, he is a quality player in what he does and given the right break will show that.

The final position is of course in goal, it looks like Paulo Gazzaniga will continue, in truth he deserves to, he did nothing wrong at Palace in fact he made several good savs and the irony is that in doing so he suddenly turned his own fortunes around in th eyes of the supporters, those that had criticised Gazzaniga in the past were in the main those who were saying Stekelenburg never made a save, they seem to prefer Gazzaniga now.

What the young keeper needs though, like any player is belief and confidence and he needs help in getting that, the crowd will be crucial in that, at Palace he made a string of good savs and the crowd were behind him ad he visibly grew in confidence, he is at a turning point, if he does the same then Saints fans will hopefully get behind him and he could well be the key figure in whether this match is won or lost.

One thing I do know and that is if the boo boys get on his back we have a far better chance of losing the match than winning it, but if they support him and help him find that self belief and confidence then we as a team are stronger and have a better chance of winning.

Photo: Action Images

TimSaint added 13:09 - Dec 18 Just hoping the fans and players will be up for this one. We are more than capable of getting a result against them, so let's take our chances and cut out silly mistakes this time around !! Come on !! We owe them big time !!
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IWOZTHERE added 18:32 - Dec 18 The more I think about RK's midfield conundrum the more I think his selection tomorrow might surprise a few people. Still gonna bet on us!
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SuperSpurs added 18:52 - Dec 21 Are you still looking forward to this ? Lol
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