Tottenham vs. Swansea: Team News, Predicted Line-Ups, Live Stream & TV Info
Tottenham Hotspur return to Premier League action on Wednesday night when they host a Swansea City side hot on their tails.
Wins over Manchester United and Burnley in the last fortnight have seen the Welsh outfit move to within four points of the north Londoners in seventh place. Swans boss Garry Monk is understandably keen for the run to continue.
"Now we have two wins in a row we want to get a third," Monk told Swansea's official website. "Tottenham are a very good team and are doing well in the league, but we want to keep our run going."
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Monk also stated his side will be prepared for a possible backlash from Spurs following their Capital One Cup final defeat on Sunday. The latter's midfielder Benjamin Stambouli was keen to talk of the significance of their remaining schedule.
"Every game is important—we have 12 matches left and every single one is key," the Frenchman told Spurs' official website. "We have some good targets to aim for in the Premier League and we have to move forward with our heads up."
Wednesday is sure to be an emotional night at White Hart Lane as the Lilywhites bid farewell to Dave Mackay. Their former captain and an integral part of Spurs' legendary early-1960s side passed away aged 80 on Monday.
Date: Wednesday, March 4
Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT/2:45 p.m. ET
Venue: White Hart Lane
TV Info: Highlights only in the UK: Football First-Match Choice on Sky Sports 1 and Match of the Day on BBC One/NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S. only)
Live Stream: No UK live stream available/NBC Sports Live Extra(U.S. only)
Form Lines
| Tottenham Hotspur | Swansea City |
| Capital One Cup final, March 1: Chelsea—Loss: 2-0 | Premier League, February 28: Burnley (a)—Win: 0-1 |
| Europa League, February 25: Fiorentina (a)—Loss: 2-0 | Premier League, February 21: Manchester United (h)—Win: 2-1 |
| Premier League, February 21: West Ham United (h)—Draw: 2-2 | Premier League, February 11: West Bromwich Albion (a)—Loss: 2-0 |
| Europa League, February 19: Fiorentina (h)—Draw: 1-1 | Premier League, February 7: Sunderland (h)—Draw: 1-1 |
| Premier League, February 10: Liverpool (a)—Loss: 3-2 | Premier League, February 1: Southampton (a)—Win: 0-1 |
Team News
Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino has a fully fit squad to choose from, as confirmed via the club's website.
Swansea boss Monk confirmed former Spur Gylfi Sigurdsson would be available after he recovered from a hamstring injury, per their own website. Tom Carroll is ineligible versus his parent club (though Kyle Naughton can play following his permanent January transfer), while Kyle Bartley remains out.
Predicted Formations
Pochettino is unlikely to deviate from his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. With all his players available to him it will be fascinating to see who he deploys in response to Spurs' cup concerns ending in such disappointing fashion.
While the north Londoners' season becomes more streamlined from here on, this latest fixture being the third in seven days is likely to force a continuation of the rotation policy. The above predicted line-up is this writer's guess at where things might change. Do not be surprised if Wednesday's team has a different look.
Whatever the 43-year-old decides, he surely now has to get back to fielding a consistent centre-back pairing. That basic tenet was the largely unheralded key to their strong early-winter form.
Monk has successfully utilised a diamond formation in midfield recently, with Wayne Routledge playing in the less familiar role of secondary striker.
The manager might subscribe to an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. However, as the above graphic's lopsided representation shows, there might be scope to push on the potentially returning Sigurdsson if needs be.
Tottenham Hotspur Player to Watch: Erik Lamela
Lamela was one of those to miss out on being in Pochettino's Wembley starting XI as the elder Argentine opted for the more direct styles of Nacer Chadli and Andros Townsend on the flanks.
The game was getting beyond Tottenham by the time of the 22-year-old's 71st-minute introduction. While Chelsea had settled into containing mode, the lively Lamela's hopeful incursions between the Blue lines helped ensure a complete procession was avoided.
This bright late cameo should earn him a chance to improve on largely quiet outings against West Ham United and Fiorentina last week.
Lamela's season may not have turned into a full-blown realisation of his talents, but there have been reasons to be encouraged by his progress (most notably he has significantly toughened up compared to his first season). Starting with Swansea, the young attacking midfielder has a chance to finish the season well and lay the foundations for an even better third campaign in England.
Swansea City Player to Watch: Bafetimbi Gomis
Back in December, Wilfried Bony contrived to drag Swansea back into their home meeting with Tottenham. One-nil down following Harry Kane's header, the Ivorian striker pummeled the visitors' defence and equalised on the 48th minute.
Spurs regained their foothold in the game and eventually won 2-1. Bony has since departed, but his ex-boss Monk is likely to place his faith in his replacement Gomis being just as affective.
As their previous defensive consistency has come undone under the strains of a demanding schedule, the Spurs defence has found itself repeatedly outdueled by talented forwards in recent weeks by players the calibre of Daniel Sturridge, Mario Gomez and Diego Costa.
Gomis could give them further problems if they are not careful.
At Burnley on Saturday he was a willing focal point for his team-mates. Frequently dropping deep to link up and help maintain possession he also caused more direct problems for the Clarets back four.
A chance behind them, after he perfectly timed his run onto a Jonjo Shelvey long-pass, was not converted. The Frenchman did, though, head on the corner which led to Kieran Trippier's own goal.
Key Battle: Spurs Need to Stop Swansea From Getting Going in Midfield
From the disciplined but not restrictive work of Jack Cork in defensive midfield, to the freedom granted to Ki Sung-yueng and Shelvey, Swansea's midfield employs a particularly positive approach.
It fared well for a period against Spurs last time. Their confident passing game allowed Bony and Routledge to flourish further forward as the away side struggled to get the ball away from them.
Things shifted away from them as the second half progressed. Notably so when Benjamin Stambouli was brought on. The recently underutilised Frenchman could be restored this week with a similar destructive assignment.
Tottenham will hope to see more of the ball at home than they did at the Liberty Stadium. Still, their midfielders will need to impose themselves early and often on their Swansea counterparts to stop them establishing a potentially damaging rhythm.
Nabil Bentaleb should be rested given he has stared all five of Tottenham's matches since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations. A Stambouli/Ryan Mason central-midfield partnership could be Spurs' best bet to break up the Swans' play anyway, while still offering the necessary energy to push their own team on.
Odds (Via Oddshark)
Tottenham win: 100/149
Swansea win: 9/2
Draw: 5/2
First goalscorer: Harry Kane: 7/2, Bafetimbi Gomis: 7
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