6 min: Tottenham do indeed look like they are playing 4-2-4 here! That puts so much pressure on Ndombele and Hojbjerg.
“I just wanted to say i appreciate your shouting Sissoko there,” emails Beth from N17. “For me he’s such an important player, does an incredible job of controlling the opposition, does so much of the dirty work, and allows others to really express themselves. Yet half our fanbase seem to hate him for some reason. Totally agree re Tanguy, for me he works better pushed higher up the pitch, and Sissoko allows him that freedom. That said, it’s an exciting lineup with that front four and has the potential to do some real damage, so let’s see how it plays out.”
4 min: Fulham have started the better, as Lookman drives to the byline. The ball comes back to Robinson on the edge but he can only manage a weak shot with his weaker right. Well wide.
2 min: Ruben Loftus-Cheek skips past Ndombele with some tidy footwork and drives into the Tottenham box. His shot is scuffed and Sánchez is able to clear. Parker has spoken this week about his hopes to make the move for Loftus-Cheek permanent, which would be quite the coup for Fulham. He’s good enough to make it at Chelsea, in my opinion.
Peeeeeeeep! We’re underway in south-west London.
We’re just about set to go. The teams are out. Fulham in their white and black, Tottenham are in their changed dark green strip.
Another email, from Wilson Beuys:
“Richard Hirst is not the only MBM reader sufficiently ancient to have seen Alan Mullery’s goal before; I’m another. But even though I’ve seen it before, it’s been a while, so that combination of outstanding technique and the crushing violence of the shot still provoked a combination of ‘ooof-laugh, hackles go up on the back of the neck.’”
If you missed it this week, there was some news about Fulham’s Kevin McDonald.
Mourinho has been talking pre-match about Dele Alli:
Dele is playing well. He’s working even better since he came back to normal work. With so many matches, we need to do some rotations.For Dele, it is more than a rotation. He’s going to start, but there is no pressure on him. It is about the team.
“Is this Tottenham’s strongest line-up on paper (excluding Ben Davies and Sanchez of course)?” asks Lalith Adithyan.
It’s certainly their most attacking team. Sissoko has been a more consistent player than Dele Alli in recent times of course. I like Mourinho’s intent with this one, but the downside to excluding Sissoko and having the quartet of Bale, Son, Kane and Alli is that Ndombele will probably have to be more withdrawn. He’s not a natural CDM in the way that Hojbjerg is. Ndombele is supremely talented but it’s always dangerous when he takes risks and loses possession in his own half.
I also think Aurier is a (slightly) superior player to Doherty, but I’m sure not everyone would agree.
Our first email, and a good one too, from Richard Hirst.
“Can I go old school, and add Alan Mullery to those the derby might be named after? A great player for both clubs. I’ll leave it to Tottenham fans to nominate a best moment for Spurs, but for Fulham I’ll put forward the goal he scored against Leicester in the FA Cup in 1974. For those not privileged to see it (and I rather suspect I might be the only reader of the blog who was!), it was Match of the Day’s goal of the season for 1974, so should be easily accessible. And for those of you lamenting that in this digital age the deathless prose and acute tactical analysis of your posts do not even survive as tomorrow’s fish and chip papers, this week I received a birthday card from my daughter with all my MBM and OBO posts turned into a card by a well known provider of such card services. Very effective, so thanks Katherine, and thanks Chris (unfortunately a Spurs supporter) for alerting her to my posts.”
WHAT A GOAL.
In other news, the stand at Craven Cottage is coming along nicely. Looks a bit out of place, mind.
Dele AND Bale? José is letting it all hang out.
Fulham: Areola, Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Robinson, Reed, Lemina, Lookman, Loftus-Cheek, Ivan Cavaleiro, Maja.
Subs: Tete, Mitrovic, Ream, Reid, Bryan, Onomah, Zambo, Kongolo, Ramirez.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Doherty, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies, Ndombele, Hojbjerg, Bale, Alli, Son, Kane.
Subs: Reguilon, Winks, Lamela, Hart, Dier, Sissoko, Tanganga, Lucas Moura, Vinicius.
Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire)
At the age of 41, Steed Malbranque is still playing football, in the fifth tier of French football for FC Limonest Saint-Didier, just outside his beloved Lyon. And the scurrying Frenchman appears to still be in great nick, apparently clocking a ridiculous 3hr20min at a marathon recently. How Fulham could do now with his attacking verve of 2001-06, when he was integral to the club’s Uefa Cup run, as well as helping them swerve relegation, before his move to the visitors to Craven Cottage tonight, Tottenham.
Another man who represented both clubs, of course, is Scott Parker. Fulham’s manager is one of a select few to have played for London clubs in the north, south, west and east of the city, and he’s got Fulham playing excellent football at the minute, even if the results don’t quite match the performances. Fulham have lost just one of the last eight league matches but have only managed two wins in that period, with their finishing left particularly wanting.
For Tottenham, only a win will do. A win could take them three points off a place in the top four but with West Ham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton (and Aston Villa?!) all seemingly in the hunt for one spot, they can ill-afford to slip up against relegation strugglers tonight.
Kick-off: 6pm GMT.
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