What can Rovers expect of Spurs?
Credit:
With Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp openly admitting to be looking ahead to his side’s weekend North London derby against Arsenal, Shamrock Rovers are set to face a weakened Tottenham side.
First team stars such as Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Ledley King and Emmanuel Adebayor, as well as the un-registered Rafael Van der Vaart, will all miss out on facing Michael O’Neill’s Hoops. With that mind, what side are Rovers likely to face, and who are these names most are unfamiliar with.
Goalkeeper
With first choice keeper Brad Friedel not registered for the group stages of the Europa League, Spurs’ boss Redknapp will still have the luxury of picking one of Brazilian international Heurelho Gomes or former Chelsea number one Carlo Cudicini. Both have won domestic titles in Holland and England, and with numerous European games under their belt, Rovers can expect an assured display by either one of the netminders.
Defence
With King rested, and other central defenders Michael Dawson and William Gallas out injured, Redknapp is certain to give fringe players Sebastien Bassong and Danny Rose a game. The Cameroon’s Bassong had been close to leaving the club on the final day of the transfer window, but a move to QPR fell through after Spurs failed to land Bolton’s Gary Cahill, while former Leeds United youth Rose is expected to make his comeback from a knee injury tonight. Vedran Corluka should slot into the back four at either centre back or full-back, leaving Redknapp having to play another academy player in the back four, or give first regular Younes Kaboul or Kyle Walker a game.
Midfield
Spurs are boosted by the news that England international Aaron Lennon and South Africa skipper Steven Pienaar are both set to feature tonight having both recovered from their respective groin injuries.
With Lennon and Pienaar on the flanks, Spurs’ central midfield is likely to be made up of Jake Livermore and Tom Carroll. Livermore, 22, is an academy graduate at Spurs and has had loan spells at Leeds United and Ipswich Town under then manager, Roy Keane. Carroll, 19, is another academy graduate who has excelled in the Europa League this season having featured in Spurs’ Europa League games against Hearts and PAOK Salonika to date. The youngster, who signed professional terms with Tottenham last year, also featured in Spurs’ Carling Cup game at Stoke City, scoring a penalty in the 7-6 penalty shootout defeat. Another of Spurs’ youths Andros Townsend and Yago Falque (on loan from Juventus) are also likely to feature at some point tonight.
Forward
Redknapp is likely to give Russian international Roman Pavlyuchenko a game tonight as he seeks to get the former Spartak Moscow to open his goalscoring account this season. The Russian, who recently featured for Russia as a substitute in Ireland’s heroic 0-0 draw in Moscow, has scored 37 goals for the club since joining in September 2008 for a fee of around £14 million after Dimitar Berbatov transferred to Manchester United.
Redknapp is left with the option of giving another academy player in Harry Kane a run-out or giving Mexican international Giovanni Dos Santos some much needed game time. Kane, 18, made his first team debut in Spurs’ home game to Hearts in the play-off round of this season’s Europa competition. While being a break through achievement for the England U19 striker, Kane will want to forget seeing a first half penalty saved by Hearts’ keeper Jamie Macdonald. Dos Santos will be known to most as a former Barcelona star who featured alongside Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and co for over a season under Frank Rijkaard.
However Pep Guardiola’s entrance coincided with the Mexican’s exit and he signed for Juande Ramos’ Spurs for £4.7 million in 2008. The move has failed to work for Giovanni and he has been loaned out to Ipswich Town, Galatasary and Racing Santander since joining Spurs. Transfers to either Sevilla and Udinese broke down at the end of the transfer window.
Predicted Spurs XI: Cudicini; Walker, Corluka, Bassong, Rose; Lennon, Livermore, Carroll, Pienaar; Pavlyuchenko, Dos Santos.
