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It's match day! Tottenham are on the south coast of England to take on Harry Redknapp's old club Southampton in a league match that will hopefully break them out of their doldrums and propel them back up towards the top of the table.
Spurs are still shaking off the disappointment of a 2-1 loss at home to Newcastle last weekend, and a somewhat dour previous draw against West Brom. But sandwiched inbetween was an outstanding 4-1 thumping of Monaco in the Europa League (albeit with their B team), so we know this team is capable of playing good football.
Mousa Dembele is expected to be at least in contention to play (if not start) today after recovering from a foot injury, but Ryan Mason is still injured and will miss out. Reliable ITK suggested that Alex Pritchard is now sprinting on his repaired knee but hasn't yet returned to training and the earliest we might see him is in the new year.
St. Mary's isn't an easy place to play, and Saints will be looking to get one back on Spurs after they swooped Toby Alderweireld and chief scout Paul Mitchell out from under them this summer.
The bad news is that this match isn't televised in the UK, and is only on the NBC overflow channels (which not everyone gets) in the USA. So fire up those radio feeds, and let's let the Saints go marching right back out.
COYS!
Lineups
#THFC team: Lloris (c), Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies, Dembele, Dier, Lamela, Alli, Eriksen, Kane. #COYS pic.twitter.com/oFOD8Awvzb
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 19, 2015
The teams are in! Here's how #SaintsFC, who make three changes, will line up against Spurs this afternoon – pic.twitter.com/H3KJCnt1CQ
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) December 19, 2015
How to Watch
Date/time: Saturday, December 19, 3:00 p.m. (UK), 10:00 a.m. ET (USA)
Venue: St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton, UK
Official: Kevin Friend
TV: NBC Sports Premier League Extra Time [the bonus channels] (USA), not televised (UK), TSN4 (Canada), Fox Sports 5 (Australia), other listings at livesoccertv.com
Streaming: NBCS Live Extra (USA)
Radio: Audio streamed at tottenhamhotspur.com, also BBC Radio London and TalkSport
Match thread rules:
The match thread rules are the same as always. To any visitors coming here for the first time, welcome! We're glad you're here! Wipe your feet, mind the gap, and be sure to check out the other pages at this outstanding site. While you're here, though, we have a few rules and regulations.
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- Have fun, and COYS!