|
· Last Season's Corresponding Game - Swansea 1 Spurs 1
· This Season's home game - Spurs 1 Swansea 0
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premiership in Match 31 2011-12
· See the current injury list for all Premiership Teams
· All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats
Full League Record of Spurs -v- Swansea
Premier Pl W D L For-Ag Pts
Home 2 2 0 0 4-1 6
Away 1 0 1 0 1-1 1
===========================================
Total(Prem) 3 2 1 0 5-2 7
===========================================
Football Lge
Home(Div 1) 2 2 0 0 3-1 6
Away(Div 1) 2 0 0 2 1-4 0
===========================================
Total(Div 1) 4 2 0 2 4-5 6
===========================================
Football Lge
Home(Div 2) 11 9 2 0 39-9 20
Away(Div 2) 11 4 3 4 13-14 11
===========================================
Total(Div 2) 22 13 5 4 52-23 31
===========================================
Total(Prem) 3 2 1 0 5-2 7
Total(Div 1) 4 2 0 2 4-5 6
Total(Div 2) 22 13 5 4 52-23 31
===========================================
Grand Total 29 17 6 6 61-30 44
===========================================
Last Six Premier League results:-
Swansea
West Ham 1-0 Swansea
Swansea 4-1 QPR
Liverpool 5-0 Swansea
Swansea 1-0 Newcastle
West Brom 2-1 Swansea
Swansea 0-2 Arsenal
Spurs
West Brom 0-1 Spurs
Spurs 2-1 Newcastle
West Ham 2-3 Spurs
Spurs 2-1 Arsenal
Liverpool 3-2 Spurs
Spurs 0-1 Fulham
Pos P W D L F-A GD Pts
4. Spurs 30 16 6 8 51-37 14 54
9. Swansea 30 11 10 10 40-38 2 40
Win this Spurs, and I will believe .......
Win this game at The Liberty Stadium tomorrow Spurs, and I will believe that we will finish top four this season, despite losing our last two league games, and looking in danger of once again surrendering what was an excellent position in third place approaching the end of the season. Spurs fans are a very demanding lot, and Andre Villas-Boas needs to know that if he fails to secure Champions League football after beating Arsenal at the beginning of this month, and yet losing at home to mid-table Fulham, then those knives will be out again.
Can Spurs win this demanding game against Swansea? Well, yes they can, but Swansea, who deserve our congratulations for winning their first major trophy in the Capital One Cup against lowly Bradford, have hit a dip in their league form, which manager Michael Laudrup will want to see corrected in front of his own fans.
Swansea might have secured Europa League football, and another season in the Premier League, but a man like Laudrup will not want to see this league season fade away into nothingness, and I am sure he will not allow his players to relax. After all, there are contracts and squad places to play for, and season ticket renewals to justify for the fans. I think we can expect a stern test.
This will be only the 30th league game played between the two sides in our long history. Swansea only entered the Football League in 1920, but within 5 years were in Division Two, where we first met at The Vetch Field on 10th November, 1928. Spurs had just been relegated, and that first trip to Swansea was memorable for all the wrong reasons as far as Spurs were concerned. Four of them in fact, as we lost 4-0. It would however be 8 years and 12 games before the Swans would taste victory over Spurs again, and amongst those 12 games, we exerted ourselves with some big victories.
In November, 1931 at White Hart Lane, Willie Evans and Willie Davies scored two apiece, whilst George Hunt (The Chesterfield Flyer) and Eugene "Taffy " O'Callaghan added goals in a 6-2 trouncing. There is some irony there that three of our scorers were born in Wales. Our team included future team trainer Cecil Poynton (the man with the magic sponge), and future legendary push and run manager Arthur Rowe. There is a fantastic BBC clip by John Motson, bound to be on You Tube, featuring an emotional Arthur Rowe in his latter years declaring his undying love for Tottenham.
Other big wins in that period were a 7-0 for Spurs in December 1932, when Willie Evans again scored two (1 penalty); George Hunt got another two; and Taffy O'Callaghan also scored again. The other two goals were scored by George Greenfield, a local boy, born in Hackney! Finally, in November 1935, Spurs won 7-2 at White Hart Lane. Willie Hall got a hat-trick; Evans got one; Johnny Morrison scored two, and James Fullwood scored from the penalty spot.
There is not likely to be a big score tomorrow, as our last two games against Swansea have been tight affairs. We last travelled to The Liberty Stadium on New Year's Eve, 2011, and had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Rafa van der Vaart scored from an Assou-Ekotto cross just before half-time, but Scott Sinclair's late equaliser caused great celebrations, including a run down the touchline by then manager Brendan Rodgers, now of course at Liverpool.
It took a 75th minute goal by Jan Vertonghen to ensure that Spurs took all three points in our home game this season. (Spurs 1 Swansea 0 - 16th December, 2012)
When we first played in the Premier League At White Hart Lane in April last year, Spurs won 3-1. It was Gylfi Sigurdsson who scored Swansea's goal, and he was quite prominent for the visitors. Sigurdsson has had an impressive International break, scoring two excellent goals (one from a free kick was Bale-like in its execution) for Iceland in a 2-1 away win against Slovenia. With Clint Dempsey again fit and having himself played (and scored) for the USA over the break, there will be competition for the place on the left of midfield, assuming that Bale plays centrally again. Aaron Lennon has been training and will be in contention for a return too, so Spurs will be almost at full strength.
Swansea have no significant injury problems, so they too should be at full strength. With Arsenal at home to strugglers Reading, and Chelsea at Southampton, this really is a "must win" game for Spurs, and I suspect that will be the case for virtually all our remaining fixtures.
With our recent form in mind, I cannot be over confident about our chances here, and I fear we may have to settle for a draw. Of course I hope for better, but it could be another 1-1.
Tomorrow's referee is Anthony Taylor, who has not officiated in a Spurs game since 28th December, 2010, when we beat Newcastle 2-0, but witnessed some thuggish behaviour by the likes of Joey Barton and Alan Smith go un-punished by the referee. It does seem a long time for a current referee not to take charge of a Spurs game, and perhaps the club had something to do with that. Swansea may be happier, because it was Mr Taylor in charge when they beat Chelsea 2-0 away in their League Cup semi-final tie. On the other hand, Mr Taylor was in charge when Swansea lost 3-0 at home to Everton last September.
Top of page | Index to 2012-13 Match Reports
| 
