Ah it's that time of the week again, and once again I'm rather late with my match report. Is anyone surprised? I thought not. As always here's the BBC's statistical preview, complete with a rather corny sword/pirate(?) analogy. For some reason this week they actually wrote quite a bit about the game (probably because people in the media actually care about Tottenham), they mention the "iron fist inside Tottenham's velvet glove". I'm not kidding.
On to the hopeful news first. Some of the really key Spurs players are injured, most prominently Luka Modric. Modric orchestrates the Tottenham midfield and launches many of the key attacks. They're also missing Woodgate who is an important central defender. Bolton have been deadly on set pieces this season, so Tottenham's weakened back four is definitely good for us.
Now for the not so great news. Tottenham have had their best start to the season since the early 60's. They've won all of they're games against non-Big-Four sides. Harry Redknapp is one of those managers who instills magic into whatever teamhttp://bolton.theoffside.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=94&message=1 he's with, I think he's definitely one of the best managers in England, and he's my dream manager for Bolton. I don't think I'd really fancy playing a game against any team he managed, even if it was Daggenham and Redbridge or the like.
One reason to find solace is that Tottenham has historically been very susceptible to the physical classic English style of play that Bolton employs. I reckon if the crowd really gets behind the team we could probably weasel away with a draw (probably with a late goal), but our chances for a win are extremely slim, and a loss wouldn't be out of the question. For all you Trotters fans in the States (although I may be the only one) the game will be aired on ESPN2 at 9:00 AM central time tomorrow morning. Come on you whites!