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· Last Year's Game - 3-3
· Last Year's Spursometer - 56%
· This season's home game - 2-1 to Spurs
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premiership in Match 36 2005-6
· Spurs drew at Higbury - No game for Boro
· See the current injury list for all Premiership Teams
Full Record of Spurs -v- Middlesbrough
Prem Pl W D L For- Ag Pts
Home 12 5 4 3 14 - 14 19
Away 11 2 4 5 11 - 17 10
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Total(Prem) 23 7 8 8 25 - 31 29
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Football Lge
Home(Div 1) 25 15 4 6 62 - 40 36
Away(Div 1) 25 3 6 16 25 - 52 13
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Total(Div 1) 50 18 10 22 87 - 92 49
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Football Lge
Home(Div 2) 1 0 0 1 2 - 5 0
Away(Div 2) 1 0 0 1 0 - 3 0
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Total(Div 2) 2 0 0 2 2 - 8 0
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Total(Prem) 23 7 8 8 25 - 31 29
Total(Div 1) 50 18 10 22 87 - 92 49
Total(Div 2) 2 0 0 2 2 - 8 0
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Grand Total 75 25 18 32 114 -131 78
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Last Six Premiership results:-
Middlesbrough
M'brough 0-2 Man City
West Ham 2-0 M'brough
M'brough 4-1 Watford
M'brough 1-3 A. Villa
Liverpool 2-0 M'brough
Man Utd 1-1 M'brough
Spurs
West Ham 3-4 Spurs
Spurs 3-1 Watford
Spurs 1-0 Reading
Chelsea 1-0 Spurs
Wigan 3-3 Spurs
Spurs 2-2 Arsenal
Pos P W D L F-A GD Pts
9 Spurs 34 14 8 12 49-50 -1 50
14 M'brough 35 10 10 15 38-45 -7 40
Two years ago Spurs travelled to The Riverside seeking a win to guarantee UEFA Cup football in their penultimate game of the season. It didn't happen of course, as we lost to an 11th minute Boateng goal, and Middlesbrough took the vital 7th place that gave them UEFA Cup football last season. The two teams do have one thing in common of course, as we have both been knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Sevilla in the last year. Boro' dramatically lost 4-0 in last year's final of course, and Spurs ejection is all too fresh in the memory.
So here we are again, seeking vital points in our quest to regain our place in Europe. We haven't beaten Middlesbrough on their turf since October 1996, when Teddy Sheringham (2) and Ruel Fox scored in a 3-0 win. Ex- Spur Nicky Barmby (now a 33 year old veteran with Hull City) was in the Boro side that day, and has since played for Everton, Liverpool, Leeds, and even on loan in 2004 at Nottingham Forest. Barmby scored a vital last minute goal last week at Stoke, which may still keep Hull and not Leeds in The Championship.
Last season's corresponding game was played in December, 2005, and finished 3-3 in an action-packed game. Robbie Keane had given Spurs the lead in the 25th minute, but Yakubu scored twice in the first half, and Spurs had to battle for a point. Interestingly, I commented in the report for that game that Martin Jol demonstrated bold tactics, by not only including two strikers on the bench, but using them, so that we had four on the field for the last 10 minutes, during which Mido scored the final goal of the game.
In this season's home game, Robbie Keane came on as sub, and scored an 84th minute winner, latching onto Tom Huddlestone's free kick for a great shot across Schwarzer's bows. That may have been the last time we saw cartwheels from Robbie, who has been celebrating his recent goals in less athletic fashion - perhaps under orders!
Middlesbrough will be on a high, after taking a draw from Old Trafford last week (where they do have a good record in Premiership years), and now that Premiership status is all but secure, they and their fans may feel in a bit of a party mood. The fact that Woodgate has now signed permanently will add to a potential carnival atmosphere, but I sincerely hope we do not have to suffer their goal-scoring musical celebration. Boro have spent all but week two (during which they beat Chelsea at home)of the season in the bottom half, and whilst never in the bottom three, have flirted with relegation for a lot of Gareth Southgate's first season as manager.
Spurs have their usual injury worries, with Tainio possibly out for the rest of the season, and Mido, Gardner, Ekotto, and Lee all absent. Paul Stalteri is in the squad, and Ledley King is apparently fully fit and raring to go, which has to be good news.
If Spurs play with the sort of desire that we all want to see, and if Martin Jol demonstrates boldness rather than caution, then surely a win is on the cards, but this is our beloved Spurs, and a win may be too much to hope for. A betting man would probably go for a score draw, as neither team have won for four games. Despite that, I'm going for a 2-1 win! Whatever the result, our chances will remain to secure European football, but of course a win would make it a smoother run-in!
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