After the historic win over ManU last week, let's see which Spurs turn up in this match. If we can overcome the 23 year jinx and beat ManU at their own place, we should be able to beat any team, anywhere ! But this is Spurs who are masters of snatching failures from the jaws of success ! We always have this bad habit of getting complacent after getting a good win. We showed that against Panathinaikos. Let's see if AVB can change all that mentality ! We are on a 3 match winning run in the league. There is no reason whatsoever why we cannot beat Villa at home. Afterall, we are unbeaten against Villa in our last 7 matches against them.
Despite the brilliant win over ManU, you can't help but worry about our defending and attack. We just can't seem to keep a clean sheet in the league nowadays. And our attack is still not as consistent and clinical as it should be. We always have to score more than 1 goal to win matches as we always concede goals. The injuries to Kaboul, Parker and Adebayor could be the main reason for this. AVB's options are very limited when it comes to changing the team to improve our form. So, it depends on the available players to lift their game and win the matches for us.
I think our performances this season seem to be depend on how Bale and Defoe play. When they play well, we seem to play well and win. Otherwise, we seem to struggle badly. Just hope they will be at their best against Villa. It will be good if Adebayor is available for this match as AVB will have more options to call upon. Adebayor will atleast push Defoe to make use of the chances he gets. I am still not convinced of Sigurdson and Dempsey. Let's hope his goal against ManU have boosted Dempsey's confidence to do well. I think Sigurdson badly needs to score in the league to boost his confidence as well.
Just can't see us keeping a clean sheet, even against a shyte team like Villa. We need Kaboul and Vertonghen to play in centre defence to improve our defending. But the old and young combination of Gallas and Caulker are not the ideal defensive partnership. Gallas is past his best while Caulker is inexperienced. Just can't see them stopping other teams from scoring. Dawson is error prone as he showed against Panathinaikos. So, until Kaboul returns, we are going to struggle in defence. We have no choice but to outscore our opponents in every match.
We have every right to still celebrate the historic win over ManU. But we can't let it affect our form in other matches if we want to achieve something this season. Let's hope the players realise this fact. There is no reason whatsoever why we cannot beat Villa at home. Anything other than a win will be disappointing !