“Sunderland will be a tough game and we need to win”.
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Pochettino has confirmed that Danny Rose has once again been ruled out after failing to overcome a hamstring injury that he picked up during the worldwide break earlier this month so Ben Davies will continue to deputise at left-back.
Sunderland pair Lee Cattermole and Steven Pienaar are back in training after injuries and could be involved. David Moyes will be without Seb Larsson, Vito Mannone, Fabio Borini and Billy Jones, who are all out injured.
Jonathan Pearce: “It has been a grizzly week for both clubs”.
“We (had) a young side out (there) but that’s no excuse when you are in the big league”. Playing there will inspire the opposition, as it did when Arsenal tried the same experiment. Certainly Sunderland looked like a side lacking leadership in the Everton match so the return of two experienced midfielders is welcome.
“I saw them capitulate 5-1 at the Lane in April 2014”.
“The lack of energy is from the beginning of the season, and the pre-season was hard, “said Pochettino”. They have got to kick on again and stay in contention with the teams at the top, they need to keep winning their home games. It’s not quite what I had hoped, but there has to be a realistic element to this.
“There has to be a building job here, but we have a great chance to prove ourselves”.
Tottenham’s players may be stung to hear their manager saying they lacked passion for 45 minutes on Wednesday, and that they might have been complacent at times so far this season – but Pochettino believes honesty is the best policy and that it encourages improvement.
Too many Sunderland players did not perform in Monday night’s home defeat to Everton. When the Toffees raised their level in the second half, it was all over.
“I think maybe he will be ready to be selected next week, maybe but not sure”, said Pochettino.
Think you can do better than Lawro?
Moyes is set to hand a first Premier League start in midfield to £13.6 million (RM73.15 million) record signing Didier Ndong, and suggests the players can show they are the solution not the problem by putting up a good performance.
Tottenham are unbeaten in 12 league games against Sunderland since a defeat in April 2010 (W9, D3).
Spurs have done so early on, and aim to continue their unbeaten form Sunday against Sunderland at White Hart Lane.
The Argentinian has also been concerned by Tottenham’s recent habit of starting games slowly and hinted the time had come to dish out some tough love.
Tottenham come into the game off the back off an emphatic 4-0 win at Stoke – but Pochettino stressed that despite the result, he was not entirely happy with the performance.
Son Heung-min has scored four goals in his last four league appearances.
“He arrived and asked me to judge my last season”.
Kyle Walker believes Vincent Janssen can lift the pressure off Tottenham striker Harry Kane in their bid for Premier League glory this season.
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They have averaged 34.8% possession in their opening four matches, the lowest percentage in the Premier League. In my head it was nine or 10.
