The focus will once again be on under pressure Blackburn boss Steve Kean as he welcomes Tottenham to Ewood Park looking who are eager to stretch their unbeaten run to six games.
Rovers are bottom of the table and have failed to win in their last three since beating Arsenal 4-3 last month and the pressure continues to rise with supporters planning more protests over Kean’s place in the dugout. The club are bottom of the table and looking clueless out on the field and were lucky to take a point away from Loftus Road in last week’s draw with QPR. Despite the dire performances the clubs owners have yet to act as they continue to stand by the man they appointed to replace Sam Allardyce 10 months ago. His summer signings have failed to add anything to the squad with much sought after striker David Goodwillie failing to score in the Premier League this season. Kean fought tooth and nail to sign him from Dundee United but he has get to even have a shot on target in six appearances. At the other end the defence is far from watertight despite the presence of Christopher Samba and Ryan Nelsen. Paul Robinson has seen the goals fly in seeing the ball hit his net 18 times already this season which isn’t a surprise considering Rovers haven’t kept a clean sheet since April. They’ve only beaten Spurs twice in their last 15 meetings so it would be surprising if the vociferous protests against Kean are silenced with a victory.
Harry Redknapp’s side should come out of this fixture unscathed and with a fifth win from their last six games. That run of form earned the Spurs boss Septembers manager of the month award . They had won four on the trot prior to last week’s 2-2 draw with Newcastle at St James’ Park and were only pegged back by a late Shola Ameobi goal. Spurs have been lethal in front of goal during their unbeaten run scoring 12 times with Rafael van der Vaart scoring their opening goal in the last three fixtures. The Dutchman has a rather impressive strike rate hitting the net every 166 minutes in the league and he will be the man Spurs will look to get them off and running at Ewood Park. His link up with Emmanuel Adebayor up front may be broken up though with Jermain Defoe pushing for a start after he came off the bench to score their second goal against Newcastle. That could mean Jake Livermore drops out and Van Der Vaart is stuck out wide. Defoe has been in good goalscoring form in the current campaign hitting five goals this season and forming a devastating understanding with Adebayor. The omens are good for Spurs going into this fixture having done the double over Rovers last season.
Key Players
Christopher Samba – A towering presence the Rovers rearguard he will be key to shutting out Adebayor, Defoe and/or Van Der Vaart. The skipper scored the equaliser at QPR last week but will need to be at his defensive best against a Spurs side who have been scoring goals for fun in recent weeks.
Luka Modric – Despite being unable to exert his influence last week at Newcastle the Croatian is the creative hub of Tottenham’s midfield. His movement and link-up play should be too much for Blackburn to handle and don’t be surprised if he ends up getting on the scoresheet on Sunday.
Prediction: 1-3
Christopher Samba scored the Rovers’ only goal of the game. The 6 foot 4 inch defender has contributed 16 clearances and 7 interception Blackburn striker David Hoilett is their top ranked player in 99th place and the young Canadian averaged a speed of 5.49mph Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor may fancy his chance at adding to his three goals so far this season against the league’s second most costly defence. Adebayor’s goals have come from 14 attempts at goal and 71% on target. The striker has also been helping out team mates, averaging a pass in his opponent’s half every 4 minutes 35 seconds. Fellow Spurs striker Jermain Defoe scored his third goal of the season, and has been due a goal having has 17 attempts on target so far this season, the third highest in the league
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