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· Last Year's Game - 1-0 to Spurs
· Last Year's Spursometer - 60%
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premiership in Match 20 2006-07
· NEW! - See the current injury list for all Premiership Teams!
Full Record of Spurs -v- Reading
Prem Pl W D L For-Ag Pts
Home 1 1 0 0 1 - 0 3
Away 1 0 0 1 1 - 3 0
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Total(Prem) 2 1 0 1 2 - 3 3
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Lge Div 1
Home 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0
Away 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0
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Total(Div 1) 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0
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Lge Div 2
Home 3 1 2 0 9 - 3 4
Away 3 1 0 2 5 - 8 2
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Total(Div 2) 6 2 2 2 14 -11 6
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Total(Prem) 2 1 0 1 2 - 3 3
Total(Div 1) 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0
Total(Div 2) 6 2 2 2 14 -11 6
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Grand Total 8 3 2 3 16 -14 9
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Last Six Premiership results:-
Spurs
West Ham 1-1 Spurs
Spurs 2-3 Birmingham
Spurs 2-1 Man City
P'tsmouth 0-1 Spurs
Arsenal 2-1 Spurs
Spurs 5-1 Fulham
Reading
Man City 2-1 Reading
Reading 1-1 M'brough
Reading 3-1 Liverpool
B'mingham 1-1 Reading
Reading 2-1 S'derland
West Ham 1-1 Reading
Pos P W D L F-A GD Pts
12 Reading 19 6 4 9 25-36 -11 22
13 Spurs 19 5 6 8 35-32 3 21
Spurs have very little history against Reading, having previously played only 8 senior league games. There were many meetings in Spurs pre-league days before 1908. Last season's Premiership matches were the first league meetings in 76 years! It is interesting though to note that of those 8 fixtures, 3 took place over the Christmas period.
Until 1958, Christmas Day football was a regular occurrence in the English game, and the return meetings of these two sides in 1928 was part of a typical Christmas footballing agenda. In 1928 we met in the old Division Two. On Christmas Day, the match at White Hart Lane ended in a 2-2 draw, with Taffy O'Callaghan and Jimmy Dimmock scoring for Spurs. Dimmock was of course the scorer of Spurs winning goal in the 1921 Cup Final against Wolves.
Having played on Christmas Day itself, the teams then met at Elm Park on Boxing Day, when Reading ran out 4-3 winners. Dimmock again scored, with Frank osborne getting Spurs other two goals. Spurs finished 10th in the division that season, with Reading 5 places below them. Reading were relegated at the end of the 1930-31 season, and it took Spurs one season longer to get back into the top flight, where they stayed for only two seasons. It then took Spurs until 1950 to get back into the top division, where they have played apart from one year in 1977-78. Spurs are now on their longest run in the top flight and indeed in any division. Last season was Reading's first experience of top flight football.
Spurs again played Reading during the festive period on 27th December, 1930. This time we won 2-1, with O'Callaghan again a scorer, along with Willie Davies.
Spurs' Boxing Day beating of Fulham confirmed their place in the top six of the current form table, but Reading are only two places below us on form, having lost just the first of their last 6 games.
Steve Coppell's side have a quite hefty negative goal difference, having suffered three goal defeats three times so far this season, against Bolton, West Ham and Portsmouth. Reading are the last team to have conceded a goal at Fratton Park, and of course that was when Pompey scored 7!
Once again, Reading have performed in a workman-like fashion and one would think that they will maintain their Premier League status for a third season. Coppell has plenty of decent players at his disposal, and as we have seen already he does like to field a strong reserve side too!
It is possible that this season, Reading have missed former gooner trainee, Steve Sidwell, who went to Chelsea for the filthy lucre where he has had little football. Perhaps as a result, Icelander Brynjar Gunnarsson has had more games this season, but he was sent off at Upton Park on Boxing Day for a two-footed lunge, so will miss this game.
Reading's only injury absences will be John Oster and Glen Little, both of whom played a part in the corresponding game last season, which Spurs won thanks to a Robbie Keane penalty after a needless handball by Greg Halford - now playing at Sunderland.
Reading have not got what I would call "big-name" players, but they are all hard workers, usually well organised, and whoever is selected will give us a far tougher game than did Fulham. Whether Ledley King will be played so soon after his first game in 7 months remains to be seen, and we also await team news about the availability of Michael Dawson and Jermaine Jenas, whose experience could be crucial to the desire to win this battle for twelth place going into the New Year!
With West Ham at home to Manchester United this week-end and Newcastle at Chelsea, a win in this game would put the victors within reach of the top half of the table! I think it will be tight, and that Spurs will win by the odd goal in three.
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