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This season has been a topsy-turvy one in the Barclays Premier League. For starters, Southampton and West Ham both currently occupy places in the top four. While Spurs and Stoke find themselves only five and three points clear of the relegation zone respectively.
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino might be under some premature and unneccessary pressure after his team's early season run of form. Most of that pressure comes from his stubborn refusal to start the greatest English striker in a generation. That, however, comes to an end today.
#THFC team: Lloris, Naughton, Fazio, Kaboul (c), Rose; Capoue, Mason; Chadli, Eriksen, Townsend; Kane #COYS
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) November 9, 2014
#THFC subs: Vorm, Dier, Vertonghen, Dembele, Lamela, Adebayor, Soldado #COYS
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) November 9, 2014
Whoa. That lineup is a thing. Harry Kane starts so, "YAY!" obviously, but no Erik Lamela and no Jan Vertonghen, so "meh." Including both Andros Townsend and Federico Fazio makes sense though. Townsend's play has been improving and if he plays on the left instead of the right he can be very good. Fazio is obviously in the team to counter the aerial threat of Stoke, though leaving your best defender out of the team doesn't seem very smart. Also, what does Benji Stambouli have to do to get into this team?
Here's how Stoke lineup:
Starting line-up v Spurs: Begovic, Bardsley, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters, Walters, Sidwell, Bojan, Nzonzi, Moses, Diouf #scfc
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) November 9, 2014
No Peter Crouch in the starting lineup. So maybe we didn't to start Fazio. If Diouf can get in behind our defense, and he'll have plenty of opportunities we could be in trouble.
If you're in the US, this match is on NBC Sports Network or Premier League Extra Time. No TV for those of you in the UK, but you can catch the commentary on BBC Radio. If you're in Canada the match is SportsNet World, and for those of you in Australia it's on Fox Sports Play. Finally, since I know we're huge in Norway, you can catch this sure-to-be barnstormer on TV Sport Premium or TV2 SUMO.
As always, no links to illegal streams and don't be jerks and idiots.