Tottenham Hotspur - Portsmouth

Spurs are 4^th and thankfully to City’s failure against Everton, have two points advantage and they’re closest to CL spot. Second half in mid-week game vs. Fulham showed they can cope with the missings of some key players. They look very strong at home with 10 wins out of 15 games (2 draws and 3 defeats). I’m not concerned by the fact 2 of 3 defeats came from Stoke and Wolves (both were very, very lucky to win 1-0). Wolves thankfully to life display by goalie Myhill kept the clean sheet (0-0). Spurs attack in waves and look very safe and consistent. They have four competitive wins in a row at home and 3 of them were with 2 or more goals margin. Spurs’ target is Champions League, they’ll be focused and fully motivated. Very good news is Tom Huddlestone is returning to the squad. Some rumors say Defoe could play, but I don’t expect him in game except in case of negative result. Excellent Pavlyuchenko (9 goals in his last 8 appearances) is in doubt, but close to appear. Bassong, Palacios and Walker will have a late fitness test. Corluka is out along with Jenas, King and Lennon.

 

Nothing much to say about Pompey. They have no worries as they’re sure travelers to Championship. Big boost came from FA as they got a permission to sell the players before the regular transfer market. Players’ motivation will surely be higher, but on the other hand we can expect plenty of individual efforts in attempt to impress the scouts. They’re poor travelers, lost 11 out 14 games and scored just 8 goals (conceded 29). Their game against top sides all look the same, early conceded goal, heads down and few more goals till the end. They conceded 4 goals at Anfield and Emirates and 5 at Old Trafford ( 5 at home at mid week vs. Chelsea). Also, no one knows which players will appear as the injury/unavailable list looks endless. Belhadj, Ben Haim, Utaka, Boateng, Diop,Yebda, Dindane, O'Hara, Rocha, Smith. 10 players! The biggest miss is best player at the moment, Jamie O’Hara (have lost 6 out of 7 without him), who can not play against his parent club. Grant was disabled in intention to save the club from relegation, he’ll have a chance to do something in Cup on Wembley (also vs. Spurs) and maybe he’ll try to keep his cards as a secret. That should mean nothing else than easy defeat today.

 

To make a good result at White Hart Lane, team should have very strong defensive abilities. Pompey currently don’t look even competitive. Defensive line with James on goal (made a sensational error vs. Chelsea) doesn’t promise anything more than another defeat with big margin. My bet is -2 ah. Pinnacle offer 2.11.  

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Wednesday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Striker Fernando Torres says he would rather move to Spanish side Barcelona, than stay in English football if he is forced to leave Liverpool. The Reds may have to sell Torres, 25, to help repay the club's financial debt with Chelsea and Manchester City interested. (IM Scouting) 
Manchester City are on red alert as Real Madrid's top scorer Gonzalo Higuain has turned down a new contract offer amid reputed interest from the Eastlands outfit.(Daily Mail) 
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that he retains an interest in Brazil and Juventus defensive midfielder Felipe Melo, as he plans for the longer term without the stricken Aaron Ramsey.(The Guardian) 
Wigan and Stoke are keen on Serbian defender Dusko Tosic, who is a free agent after leaving cash-strapped Portsmouth.(The Daily Mail) 
David Beckham will return to to play for LA Galaxy in the United States after the World Cup. The England midfielder, 34, is currently on loan with Italian side AC Milan. (The Sun) 
Everton are leading the chase for West Brom's highly-rated Graham Dorrans. The Scottish midfielder, 22, has hit 13 goals this term. (The Sun) 
Manchester United midfielder Nani has urged manager Sir Alex Ferguson to press ahead with his bid for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Miguel Veloso. Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal are all interested in the 23-year-old.(The Sun) 
Bolton boss Owen Coyle wants to sign United States midfielder Stuart Holden on a full-time deal after his impressive start at the Reebok Stadium. The 24-year-old is on a short-term contract to the end of the season.(Daily Mirror) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Portsmouth will be offered a staggering £32m rescue deal from the Premier League to pay their tax bill and avoid going bust this season. (Daily Mirror) 
Defender Wayne Bridge will play for England again, according to his Manchester City team-mate Kolo Toure. (The Telegraph) 
Russia's bid to stage the World Cup in 2018 could be set to benefit from the political and financial firepower of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. (The Telegraph) 
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has poured cold water over reports suggesting he will quit the Blues to take over as Italy boss after this summer's World Cup. (The Sun) 
Meanwhile, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has revealed he quite fancies the Italian job, but not just yet: "Now I'm thinking only of City. I will be here many years." (The Sun) 
Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone faces a long injury lay-off after a scan revealed he suffered ankle ligament damage against Everton. (The Daily Mail) 

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AND FINALLY

England captain Steven Gerrard says his wife, Alex Curran, will not be at the World Cup in South Africa with him, unless they reach the semi-finals. (Various)
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Tuesday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester United full-back Patrice Evra is trying to persuade Bayern Munich midfielder Franck Ribery to come to Old Trafford.(The Sun) 
Manchester City and Tottenham are battling it out for Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry.(Daily Star) 
West Brom defender Paul Robinson says he will leave the relegated club as he wants to play in the Premier League.(Daily Mirror) 
Arsenal have made an £8m bid for Fulham centre-back Brede Hangeland.(Daily Mirror) 
Tottenham are ready to make another bid for Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov, who is currently playing for Manchester City.(The Sun) 
Chelsea are confident they have beaten Inter Milan in the race to sign FC Twente striker Marko Arnautovic.(Daily Mail) 
Defender Michael Turner has disappointed Liverpool by pledging his future to Hull. (Various)
Wolves have abandoned plans to sign Spurs midfielder Tom Huddlestone after being quoted £8m for the 22-year-old.(Daily Mail) 
Rangers manager Walter Smith is set to offload midfielder Barry Ferguson this summer rather than risk him going on a free next year.(Daily Record) 
Tottenham are ready to listen to offers for Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko and are set to step up their chase for Djibril Cisse.(The Guardian) 

OTHER GOSSIP 

Newcastle are ready to offer Alan Shearer a four-year contract as they look to bounce back into the Premier League.(Daily Mirror) 
Shearer has been told that £30m must be slashed from Newcastle's wage budget following their relegation to the Championship.(Daily Star) 
West Brom manager Tony Mowbray is the favourite to succeed Gordon Strachan at Celtic.(The Sun) 
Wigan boss Steve Bruce has been strongly linked with the vacant manager's position at Sunderland. (Daily Mirror) 
However, Strachan is not a target for Sunderland.(The Independent) 
Strachan told family and friends last week that he would be standing down as Celtic manager.(Daily Record) 
Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov says following his FA Cup semi-final miss, he will not want to step up should the Champions League final go to a penalty shoot-out.(The Sun) 
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate says the club needs to be in the Championship promotion hunt by Christmas if he is to remain in his job.(The Sun) 
Former Watford boss Aidy Boothroyd is hoping to beat Jim Magilton to the QPR manager's job. (Daily Star)

AND FINALLY 

One person that is revelling in Burnley's promotion to the Premier League is former Labour press chief Alastair Campbell. He says Burnley's achievement was "even better than playing football in a charity match with Diego Maradona in front of 72,000 people".(The Sun)
www.bbc.co.uk