Swansea City vs Tottenham Hotspur: Preview

Thursday night’s calamity in Istanbul has sent fans off on a bit of a rampage. Many have been quick to point fingers at the players, Pochettino and even Daniel Levy.

We need to remain calm. At the start of the season, we expected this would be a season of transition and that Poch should be given time in the job, yet when this becomes a reality, everyone is calling for his head. And we mock the fanbase four miles down the road…

The point is we need to stick together as a club, or we will end up having a replay of the 13/14 season.

Onto Sunday’s match, and we have a tricky task ahead at the Liberty Stadium.  Swansea have only been beaten at home once this season, and that was against Southampton with 10 men. We will have to be at our best to see off the Swans, but with many key players rested and even left at home in midweek, it seems we may be more refreshed than we have in previous post-Europa League fixtures.

Harry Kane, Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason all looked burnt out vs Crystal Palace after starting three games in just over a week, and will no doubt have benefited from a full week of rest.

After the returns of Kyle Walker, Andros Townsend and Etienne Capoue in Istanbul, the only absentee from the squad appears to be Emmanuel Adebayor.

The battle for places in Sunday’s side appears to be in the full back positions. The season-long absence of Walker has meant we have been without an attacking full back on the right side, leaving our formation lopsided when starting Danny Rose. However, the pacy England star is back, it could give Poch a few headaches ahead of the game.

If we start Walker after just 75 minutes of competitive football in 9 months, he will probably not be at his best, and, even though his attacking prowess will be visible, his defensive abilities may be stretched. Unfortunately, our best chance of winning is with fast wing backs to provide the overlapping width, with the inside forwards now having another attacking option when on the ball.

Ben Davies returns to the south Wales currently as the first choice left back, but as mentioned, this system requires quick full backs, and Danny Rose certainly excels in that department.

Thursday’s tie looked to be a way of showcasing the dead weight at the club- after that performance the only thing we’re shipping is Nabil Bentaleb to the African Cup of Nations (unfortunately). Our best player was Mousa Dembele, who provided an above-average performance. Everyone else, however, should take a long look at themselves, and know that they should not be expected to start on Sunday.

For the Swans, the ghost of Gylfi Sigurdsson looks likely to come back and haunt us, with the Icelander in hot form. Supposed striker target Wilfried Bony will undoubtedly be looking forward to proving his worth against our defence.

On the flip side, our strikers will be happy to know that ‘keeper Lukasz Fabianski is suspended, meaning 6 year old Gerhard Tremmel will start for the Swans. Tom Carroll is ineligible, but Garry Monk has plenty more men to choose from.

The commitment of players has been questioned recently, but a good performance and three points on Sunday could leave Spurs on a high heading into the Christmas period.

Expected XI: Lloris; Naughton, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies; Bentaleb, Mason; Lamela, Kane, Eriksen; Soldado