José Mourinho has had a good start at Spurs. A 2-3 win away at West Ham's London stadium and a 4-2 home win to Olympiakos would seem reasonable to most people looking at Spurs' results, but in both games Spurs have conceded goals and Mourinho won't always win games if his team continues to concede two goals a game.
The form of Dele Alli has seen a sudden revival under Mourinho and if the so-called special one can get Erickson to stay at Spurs then he is probably already going to be adorned by the home crowd. The feel good factor will be starting to grow, but there will be those that don't like Mourinho no matter what he achieves for his new club. I suspect those tensions will be just beneath the surface, and if a team like Bournemouth can frustrate and get on top of Mourinho's team in the early part of the game, we could see a very different opinion form of Mourinho's first few games in charge.
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Bournemouth will go to Spurs knowing that they beat them 1-0 at Dean Court the last time they played and yet were hammered 5-0 in the away game last season. This will be the first time the two teams have played at Spur's new stadium. The big pitch at Wembley was not a happy hunting ground for Bournemouth, but they can feel they have a clean sheet to defend at this new stadium with no past history there
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We know Spurs are a good side and have been out of sorts under Pochettino. It is probably a harder game now than it would have been if Spurs had not parted company with Pochettino. But it is what it is. Bournemouth only sit a point below Spurs in the table and Eddie Howe should be using that as an incentive not to lose ground on Spurs but to get into the top 10 by beating them.
Spurs form is not great with four wins and five draws. At home they have beaten Southampton, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace but have drawn with Sheffield United and Watford and lost to Newcastle United. So, if Bournemouth can get to half-time on equal terms, it could start to play on the Spurs' players' minds that they are struggling to beat sides at home. Bournemouth themselves have to make themselves harder to beat after last weekend and we could find that Mourinho has not yet corrected all of Spurs' failings.
Spurs' Home Form
LWWDD
AFCB Away Form
LWLDL
In other news, no Rival Lines this week as the Spurs' podcaster has not come back to me in time.
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| Can Bournemouth replicate their 1-0 win against Spurs last season or are Spurs much too strong? |
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Spurs' Home Form
LWWDD
AFCB Away Form
LWLDL
In other news, no Rival Lines this week as the Spurs' podcaster has not come back to me in time.
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