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Spurs Odyssey Preview - Fulham v Spurs, 04.12.13

· Last Season's Corresponding Game - Fulham 0 Spurs 3
· This week - last year
· What happened in the Premiership in Match 14 2012-13

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


Full Record of Spurs -v- Fulham
 
Premier       Pl   W   D   L    For-Ag  Pts
Home          12   7   3   2    18 - 6   24
Away          12   4   3   5    18 -16   15
===========================================
Total(Prem)   24  11   6   7    36 - 22  39
===========================================
Football Lge
Home(Div 1)   11   8   3   0    28 - 13  19
Away(Div 1)   11   6   4   1    17 - 12  16
===========================================
Total(Div 1)  22  14   7   1    45 - 25  35
===========================================
Football Lge
Home(Div 2)   11   4   6   1    13 - 8   14
Away(Div 2)   11   4   5   2    20 - 16  13
===========================================
Total(Div 2)  22   8  11   3    33 - 24  27
===========================================
Total(Prem)   24  11   6   7    36 - 22  39
Total(Div 1)  22  14   7   1    45 - 25  35
Total(Div 2)  22   8  11   3    33 - 24  27
===========================================
Grand Total   68  33  24  11   114 - 71 101
===========================================

Last Six Premier League results:-

Fulham - WLLLLL

C. Palace  1-4   Fulham
S'hampton  2-0   Fulham
Fulham     1-3   Man Utd
Liverpool  4-0   Fulham
Fulham     1-2   Swansea
West Ham   3-0   Fulham

Spurs - WWDLLD

A. Villa   0-2   Spurs
Spurs      1-0   Hull
Everton    0-0   Spurs
Spurs      0-1   Newcastle
Man City   6-0   Spurs
Spurs      2-2   Man Utd

Pos          P  W  D  L   F-A   GD  Pts
 9. Spurs   13  6  3  4  11-14  -3   21
18. Fulham  13  3  1  9  11-24 -13   10

Don't bounce back yet Fulham!

So, Martin Jol lost his job after 6 defeats in a row, five of which have been in the Premier League. With his side stuck in the bottom three (almost certainly whatever the result tomorrow), the board was bound to act, and Jol's body language has been telling the story over the last two games in particular. It hasn't been just the matter of losing, but the manner of the 3-0 defeat at Upton Park was embarrassing, with the absence of Brede Hangeland most evident in recent weeks.

Hangeland has been missing since that last win of Fulham's which was a 4-1 at Crystal Palace. The bad news for Spurs fans is that he could be available tomorrow. Dimitar Berbatov missed the West Ham game through llness, but he too might be available to play against us. Mind you, Berbatov's form, and attitude has not been at its best so far this season. Fulham's form has been a bit of a mystery when you consider the talent at their disposal, but the results certainly do not lie.

No doubt there will be some "Jol love" from Spurs fans tomorrow night, and potentially there will be one or two more ex-Spurs players in the squad. Scott Parker has been playing a full part in Fulham's season, whilst Adel Taarabt (on loan from QPR) has had less opportunities. He did play 90 minutes on Saturday for only the third time in all games this season.

At least Martin Jol's dismissal was dealt with in an honourable fashion, and not in the infamously underhand manner with which Spurs got rid of one of their most popular managers in recent years.

Unlike some, I have mixed feelings about Jol's time with Spurs. He did, after all, give us our shortest ever season in 2005-06, when we were knocked out of both cups at the first hurdle by lower tier opposition. The most embarrasing of those exits was at fourth tier Grimsby, of course, but ironically (because Fulham lost one of those last 6 consecutive games at Leicester) we were knocked out of the FA Cup at Leicester.

Jol is rightly fondly remembered for two fifth places, although his expression for that - "best of the rest" - was not so special. Then there was the honourable and dignified fashion with which he handled himself in the face of controversy such as Pedro Mendes' "goal" at Old Trafford. I was asked the other day what I considered to be the most memorable matches played under Martin Jol's leadership at Spurs.

Jol was appointed by Spurs in 2004, after Jacques Santini's mysterious departure after a 2-0 defeat at Fulham. It wasn't long before one of those memorable games came along, which was the 5-4 home defeat by Arsenal. We scored five goals at home against three teams, Southampton, Everton and Aston Villa that season, finishing ninth. The following season ended in "Lasagne-Gate" and fifth place. We managed fifth again in 2006-07, with a historic Guy Fawkes Day 2-1 win over Chelsea perhaps the most memorable.

Tomorrow is not about Martin Jol, but it is about another London Derby, crucial to both teams for not so different reasons. Spurs are looking for their league win in five games, and Rene Meulensteen's Fulham need to end a horrible run of six consecutive defeats in all games.

No doubt the home side will be fired up, and both sets of fans will be baying for success. Spurs' injury news is the same as at the week-end, with Adebayor, Rose, Kane and Eriksen all unavailable. Whether AVB plays the same line-up as against Man Utd remains to be seen. The defence is likely to remain the same, but the attack might well have a different look about it, perhaps with Sigurdsson and Defoe getting starts.

What we do not want is for Fulham to bounce back. We had a good 3-0 win last year, sparked by Sandro's previous Premier League goal before his cracker on Sunday, but they hit us with a surprise 1-0 at The Lane in March.

I''m going for a 2-1 win for Spurs. Referee Mark Clattenburg takes charge of us for the third time this season tomorrow, and both the previous occasions resulted in an away win, so here's hoping! (Those wins were at Crystal Palace and at Cardiff)

· Spurs record in recent London Derby matches

· 15 years ago this week - On December 5th 1998, Jamie Carragher scored one of his own goals to give Spurs a 2-1 win over Liverpool!

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