Birmingham City Vs Tottenham Hotspur: Match Thread

[chrissivad]

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Birmingham City Vs Tottenham Hotspur
Barclays Premier League
Venue: St Andrew's Date: Saturday, 4 December Kick-off: 1500 GMT​

Coverage: Watch highlights on Match of the Day; listen on BBC Radio 5 live and local radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles​

For more on live coverage please visit Geez's Live Media Thread
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Blues look to build on midweek success when Spurs come to town


Birmingham City welcome Tottenham Hotspur to St Andrews this weekend, buoyed by their Carling Cup triumph over rivals Aston Villa.

Spurs' travelling supporters may not find the seating to their liking, largely due to the aftermath that followed Wednesday's quarter-final tie between two of the West Midlands' fiercest foes.

Ugly is a fitting word to describe the scenes that followed Blues' 2-1 victory over Villa, as numerous home supporters took to the pitch and ran directly towards the away end to taunt their opposing fans.

The incident led Alex McLeish to recall English football's "Dark Ages" and while the Scot's fears are sure to be allayed, the incident certainly did not help England's now-humiliated World Cup 2018 bid.


Snatched

McLeish, whose side now play West Ham United for a place in the Wembley showpiece, warm up for that semi-final double-header with another London club in the shape of Tottenham.

Spurs snatched victory at the death when they played Birmingham last season and they are in that kind of mood again, having seen off Liverpool in stoppage time on Sunday.

Harry Redknapp's UEFA Champions League outfit are already through to the knock-out stages of Europe's crème de la crème competition and they can now give the Premier League their undivided attention.
Not that their domestic form is suffering on recent accounts, with three straight wins which has seen them move within a point of fourth-placed Manchester City.

But Blues are also in decent nick - away draws against City and Fulham were impressive but sending Chelsea packing pointless a fortnight ago rubberstamps their credentials ahead of this contest.


Team news

McLeish could keep faith with the side that booked their place in the last four of the Carling Cup. Matchwinner Nikola Zigic picked up a knock at the tail end of the midweek tussle but should be OK for Spurs.
Alexander Hleb missed the Villa victory with a hamstring injury and the on-loan Barcelona playmaker could miss out again, while James McFadden remains a long-term casualty.

One player who could force his way into McLeish's first-team plans is Craig Gardner after he replaced Lee Bowyer in the second-half on Wednesday and impressed after recovering from an ankle injury.

Spurs, meanwhile, have a worrying 11 first-team members doubtful or out of Saturday's fixture.

Redknapp looks set to be without Rafael Van der Vaart for a month after he hurt his troublesome hamstring in last weekend's success over the Reds.

The White Hart Lane tactician also saw Younes Kaboul hurt his hip and he is definitely out of the trip to St Andrews as well.

Van der Vaart and Kaboul join a lengthy casualty list which includes Tom Huddlestone (ankle), Johnathan Woodgate, Ledley King, (both groin) and Jamie O'Hara (back).

Redknapp has Michael Dawson (knee), Jermaine Jenas, David Bentley (both calf), Giovani Dos Santos (abdominal) and Robbie Keane (ankle) all pencilled in to return to fitness this week but it remains to be seen how many make his matchday squad.

The glimmer of light for Spurs is that Jermain Defoe is fully fit and he could make his first league start since August alongside Peter Crouch or Roman Pavlyuchenko.
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Birmingham's Craig Gardner is in contention to start after making his comeback from injury as a substitute in the midweek win over Aston Villa.

The Blues are without Alexander Hleb for three weeks with a calf strain.

Tottenham's Michael Dawson makes his long-awaited return to the squad after the ankle problem he picked up playing for England in early September.

Injury has ruled Rafael van der Vaart out for three weeks, and Younes Kaboul for a fortnight.



Birmingham
Injured: Hleb (calf), McFadden (knee)


Tottenham
Doubtful: Bentley (calf), Keane (ankle)
Injured: Huddlestone (ankle), Dos Santos, King & Woodgate (all groin), Kaboul (hip), Jenas (calf), O'Hara (back), van der Vaart (hamstring)

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The explosive end to Wednesday night's Carling Cup quarter-final victory over Aston Villa tarnished what was a famous derby win for Birmingham City. The FA are bound to come down hard on the Blues following the pitch invasion that led to ugly skirmishes with Villa fans and the police.

Manager Alex McLeish has been keen to direct attention away from the behaviour of the troublemakers and onto the achievements of his players.
While there is nothing sweeter than a triumph over the Villa, he will have swiftly refocused his players on to the club's number one goal at the start of the season - Premier League survival.

Yet again, Tottenham are beset by an injury crisis and manager Harry Redknapp is down to the bare bones. Although these days at White Hart Lane, even the players regarded as the bare bones of his squad are experienced internationals.

Tottenham have 25 full internationals in their ranks, a total matched only by Manchester United, which is a real sign of their increasing threat to the top-flight's elite.

This has also been helped in recent weeks by their growing reputation as the league's comeback kings, and they picked up another three points with a late goal last week against Liverpool. Given that there has been a 90th-minute goal in five of the last six Premier League games between these sides, any fan would be advised not to leave St Andrew's early

Head-to-head
• Tottenham have won just one of their six Premier League matches against Birmingham at St Andrew's.
• But the Blues have only managed to win three out of their 12 Premier League clashes with Tottenham.
• This is the 93rd meeting between the sides. Tottenham have won 44 times, Birmingham 28 and there have been 20 draws.


Birmingham
• City have recorded only two league wins in their last 13 games.
• The Blues have had fewer shots in the Premier League than any other team this season.
• St Andrew's has seen just 12 goals this season, the joint-fewest of any stadium.
• Former Tottenham player Stephen Carr will be making his 450th club career appearance.



Tottenham
• Tottenham have accrued 16 points from losing positions this season, more than any other club in the division.
• Spurs have missed eight of their last 15 penalties in all competitions, and Jermain Defoe has failed to score with five of his last six.
• They have only won one game outside London this season in all competitions (v Stoke).


LEADING GOALSCORERS

Birmingham

Gardner: 4 goals (3 league); Zigic 4 goals (2 league)


Tottenham

Bale: 9 goals (5 league); Van der Vaart: 8 goals (6 league);
Pavyluchenko: 8 goals (4 league)


MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Kevin Friend
Assistant referees: Stuart Burt & Patrick Keane
Fourth official: Mark Clattenburg
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[gibbs131]

I thought Dos Santos played a warm up game recently. Did he get injured during the game?

That would be fitting since he is cursed.

I don't care how good their home form is. We should turn these lot over, and with hints that Daws will be on the bench, and with Bassongs great form, we can make no excuses.

 

[Zammo]

'Ole Zammo thinks we've got a good chance.

 

[haxman]

Damn injuries.... would love to see us with a fully or even a near fully fit squad for once. :-|

 

[Mr Pink]

Harry could be tempted to start Pav with a view to saving Crouchy for European duty on Tuesday, I doubt it though.

I think most of us expect the eleven mentioned in the other thread to start. Would love to see Wilson have a big game here, because if he did we could run out comfortable winners...I'll not get ahead of myself.

But yes, if Palacios has a good game I can really see us winning and this is not preparation to make him a scapegoat its just the way I see it. Its perfectly set up for Wilson to stamp his mark on this team again.

Birmingham have an excellent home record but they score very few goals so I am not particularly worried about their attacking threat. As a defensive unit they are excellent but Bale, Lennon, Modric and Defoe will test that to the limit tomorrow and I dont see them keeping us out.

Optimistically I am going for a 2-0 win. Bale and Defoe :grin:

 

[Mr Pink]

By the way I am sticking 20 quid on Spurs to win the title at 37/1 :grin:

 

[gibbs131]

By the way I am sticking 20 quid on Spurs to win the title at 37/1 :grin:

Lol. I did that when Mansion became our sponsor. I usually buy from whoever sponsors us just to support it. So I gambled $20 on a frivolous bet like you did.

If we were EVER going to win it, I think this transition period of the big boys is in with a (very small) chance.

 

[camaj]

Harry could be tempted to start Pav with a view to saving Crouchy for European duty on Tuesday, I doubt it though.

I hope so, but not so Crouch is "saved" but because we need our strongest team in the league.

Will Kranjcar finally be given a start? Harry's tried Huddlestone, Jenas and Palacios. I don't feel like any of them have had a good game while arguably the most talented player, Kranjcar, has been left to rot on the bench. Not only that he and Luka play in the middle for Croatia

 

[robbiesavagehasbreasts]

Not another West Brom, West Ham or a Bolton. Pleeease.

This is our opportunity to really step up and show something. What's the point in winning Arsenal and Liverpool if we can't go away to Birmingham and pick up 3 points?

COYS!

 

[ShelfSide18]

By the way I am sticking 20 quid on Spurs to win the title at 37/1 :grin:

I've got a couple of quid on the title at 50-1, before the Pool game. What really pissed me off was we were 50-1, Man City 7-1|

I also thought it was rude to not stick a few quid on the Champs League, 20-1!

But yeah, lets beat the Brum.

 

[nedley]

Off to the game today. My first premier league away game.

My Missis is a good girl.

 

[TwoSaintsComeMarching]

If anyone has a spare ticket, or knows someone with a spare ticket, and going to the game... please let me know! cheers!

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

kranjcar and modric in cm would be suicide.stupid suggestion.

 

[hughy]

I think Ridgewell, Zigic and the CB's of Brum will be too much for us iin the air, even with Crouch. But I'd still start him, and just resist the temptation to go long. With Bale, Modders and Lennon we should have this.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

I'd quite like to win this game.

 

[chkthfc82]

I'd take a draw today, tough place to win st Andrews.

 

[stevenqoz]

Last time I went to Birmingham Trevor Hockey was playing in their midfield......there was a hard man

 

[degoose]

I think Ridgewell, Zigic and the CB's of Brum will be too much for us iin the air, even with Crouch. But I'd still start him, and just resist the temptation to go long. With Bale, Modders and Lennon we should have this.

zigic is not really that great in the air or overall really, he also is possibly the slowest player ive ever seen an im not basing this on this season he was the same for valencia . I'm more worried about Jerome as he has a quick turn of pace only good thing is he isnt the best finisher. We need to grab a couple of goals early and just keep forcing them back.

 

[mil1lion]

This is a genuine test for us today. After the great month we've had we really need to win a game like this to keep our form up. It would be typical for us to no show for a game like this. Lets show genuine title challenging quality on the pitch today. Several players have talked up our chances of pushing for the title, so they need to prove it out on the pitch. These are the games you have to win.

COYS!

 

[degoose]

im quite gutted jenas isnt fit as palacios is ok but i enjoy the insane all out attacking midfield and strike force . Overall for this game i think its up to palacios to show what he can do again and for us to push birmingham back, they have some good players in bowyer ferguson and larrson .