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Spurs Odyssey Preview - Bolton v Spurs - 02.05.12

· Bolton 4 Spurs 2 - 6th November, 2010
· Spurs 3 Bolton 0 - 3rd December, 2011
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premiership in Match 36 2010-11

· See the current injury list for all Premiership Teams
· All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats

Full League record against Bolton:-

Premier      Pl  W  D  L   For-Ag  Pts
Home         13  9  2  2   24 -11  29
Away         12  1  4  7   13 -23   7
======================================
Total(Prem)  25 10  6  9   37 -34  36
======================================
Football Lge
Home (Div 1) 29 17  5  7   57 - 31 39
Away (Div 1) 29  9  3 17   38 - 52 21
======================================
Total(Div 1) 58 26  8 24   95 - 83 60
======================================
Football Lge
Home (Div 2)  2  2  0  0    3 - 1   4
Away (Div 2)  2  1  0  1    1 - 1   2
======================================
Total(Div 2)  4  3  0  1    4 - 2   6
======================================
Total(Prem)  25 10  6  9   37 -34  36
Total(Div 1) 58 26  8 24   95 -83  60
Total(Div 2)  4  3  0  1    4 - 2   6
======================================
Grand Total  87 39 14 34  136 -119 102
======================================

Last Six Premiership results:-

Bolton

Wolves     2-3   Bolton
Bolton     0-3   Fulham
Newcastle  2-0   Bolton
Bolton     1-1   Swansea
A. Villa   1-2   Bolton
S'derland  2-2   Bolton

Spurs

Chelsea    0-0   Spurs
Spurs      3-1   Swansea
S'derland  0-0   Spurs
Spurs      1-2   Norwich
QPR        1-0   Spurs
Spurs      2-0   Blackburn

Pos        P  W  D  L  F-A   GD  Pts
 4 Spurs  35 18  8  9 59-39  20  62
18 Bolton 35 10  4 21 41-69 -28  34
Muamba fillip for Bolton

Fabrice Muamba has confirmed that he will be attending tomorrow night's game at The Reebock. This will be a great fillip to the Bolton team, and in that sense not exactly what Spurs would want to see. However, all present will give Muamba the heartiest warm greeting you would imagine, and I have privately been hoping that Fabrice would be able to attend. The miracle of his recovery after the near tragedy of his collapse in our abandoned FA Cup game will inspire and enthral others for years to come. (An account of the night Fabrice Muamba collapsed)

The Muamba incident was thankfully, just a near-tragedy, but when Bolton came to White Hart Lane in December for Premier League action, we were remembering the complete tragedy of the passing of former Bolton player and Wales manager Gary Speed. (Spurs 3 Bolton 0 - 3rd December, 2011). Gareth Bale scored the opener for Spurs in a 3-0 win, and in his celebration, he took off and displayed his boot towards the Bolton fans. The boot carried the message "R.I.P Gary Speed". Gary Cahill got sent off after only 17 minutes by referee Stuart Atwell for a deemed professional foul upon Scott Parker, who was not many yards inside the Bolton half when fouled. Spurs' other two goals were scored by Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe.

Bolton were 18th in the table in December, with only two wins in a run of 15 games after their opening day 4-0 victory over QPR. The other two results had been wins over Wigan (3-1) and Stoke (5-0). They are 18th again now, but in better form, unbeaten in three games, which included the re-arranged game at Villa Park, which they won 2-1. That game had been re-arranged after the Muamba incident. This game was re-arranged due to our involvement in the FA Cup semi-final, after we beat Bolton 3-1 in the re-arranged FA Cup quarter-final.

Tomorrow's game is another "must-win" for both teams. Spurs want to keep hold of fourth place (Chelsea also play Newcastle tomorrow night), whilst every point is precious in Wanderers' quest for Premier League survival. They've got tough games at home to West Brom on Sunday, and away to Stoke on the last day of the season. It looks as if that last day is going to involve a lot of tension at both ends of the Premier League table.

A big problem for Spurs is the well-worn statistic about never having won a league game at The Reebock. There will be no better time to end that run, and perhaps not another chance next season. Spurs have won a league cup game at the 15 year old stadium.

Another problem for Spurs is the return to the Bolton team, and the return to goal-scoring form of club captain Kevin Davies. Davies has a nasty habit of scoring against us, and did so twice when we last met at The Reebock in November 2010 (Bolton 4 Spurs 2 - 6th November, 2010). We were 3-0 down before Alan Hutton scored a rare goal. Pavlyuchenko gave us a little hope by making it 3-2 with three minutes to go, but Martin Petrov made it 4-2 in added time.

Davies scored twice in Bolton's 2-2 draw on Saturday at The Stadium of Light. That was Davies' first 90 minute game since mid-January, but he scored against us in the FA Cup, and then got the third goal in a 3-2 win over Wolves in the following game. We will need to be on our guard.

37 year old goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen has yet to start a game this year, and the Hungarian Adam Bogdan has become first choice. Bogdan made his senior International debut last year, and now has 5 full caps.

Not unusually, Harry Redknapp seems to be playing his cards close to his chest regarding injuries. One table Spurs do currently top is that regarding injuries, and Aaron Lennon and Louis Saha have joined Scott Parker on that list. Any one or all three of them might be available tomorrow. I'd be happy with the same starting line-up as Sunday, but if Lennon is not available, maybe Jermain Defoe would get a start. To maintain the winning 4-4-1-1 of Sunday though, that could even mean a start for Giovani Dos Santos! Bolton have worries about Nigel Reo-Coker, full back Steinsson and Darren Pratley on top of their longer term absentees.

Spurs will not be facing a team seeking to get 10 men behind the ball, but a team determined to score and to win. That must give us a better chance than is often the case of playing our stylish attacking game, and despite the various potential obstacles, I am predicting a 2-1 win!

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