Can Saints beat Tottenham Hotspur at St Mary's for the first time since March 2005 and send Mauricio Pochettino home feeling really unloved.

If there is perhaps one disappointment over the five seasons we have been back in the Premier league it is that we have yet to beat Spurs at home, indeed in the 8 games played so far, our win at White Hart Lane is our only victory and the draw in April 2015 at St Mary's our only other point, with Spurs turning out winners on the other 6 occasions.

So a win over the North London Yobbos is well overdue at home as is better results in general against a team that over the past two decades has generally been one that Saints fans love to hate.

Certainly Spurs are in form at the moment, their last six league games have seen them win four and lose two and as those defeats were at Chelsea and Manchester United they willbe in confident mood travelling down to the South Coast.

However sometimes you have to look beyond mere stats and when you consider that the four wins have been against West Ham, Swansea, Burnley and Hull, all at home, then perhaps this run isn't as comprehensive as it might first appear.

This gives Saints fans hope that their team can get something for once and that could just be a win.

Saints looked a different side in the last game at Bournemouth and the feeling is that the loss of Charlie Austin might have a golden lining and that is the side looked a lot more mobile and fluid in attack.

The key will be Jay Rodriguez, he gives the team not only a focal point up front with a more physical presence than those around him but he has genuine quality, injury cannot take that away from a player.

So it will be a case of getting it right at the back, I think Jose Fonte will return for Yoshida, a tight central midfield with Romeu, Davis and Hojbjerg and then a forward line finding its form, I think Rodriguez, Boufal and Redmond will start.

That would leave an outfield bench of, JWP, Yoshida, Long, Tadic, McQueen and then either Reed or Martina.

This is a tight team and a good strong bench and one that can compete with Tottenham.

This is a tough period for Saints, it is one that if they can come through it will leave them well placed for the second half of the season, but they need to come through it strongly to prove to the fans that the manager is the man for the job.

The exit from the Europa League cut many Saints supporters to the bone, but they have to put that behind them and stay with the team as they did at Bournemouth, if they do so then they can play a big part in creating one of those special nights at St Mary's when we send one of the self professed big boys home with their tails between their legs.

Photo: Action Images

arthurfane added 10:17 - Dec 29 Last season Forster was an absolute rock, but something's gone badly wrong this season. Against Palace I didn't like the grumbles at his performance because I felt he'd won more points for us than he'd lost, but last night he was rubbish. I'd always known he stays rooted to his line, despite his enormous stature, but thought his distribution and shot stopping were excellent. Last night, his distribution was pitiful (cue ironic cheers when he finally connected properly with a clearance . . . in the second half) and conceded 4 out of 5 shots on target. The 4th from Alli couldn't have been at a more ideal height or position for a goalkeeper to deal with - it just seems that he's as porous as Stekelenberg was last season. Time to give McCarthy a go I think. I thought last night just served to show the gulf in class between the two teams. For the first 15 minutes we were fantastic - we attacked with pace and skill, and were unlucky not to be two in front with Redmond narrowly missing and some frantic blocks from a shell-shocked Spurs. Then Tottenham got a foot-hold in the game and showed their class - they had ideas, were always quick to the second ball, and looked incisive up front. Wanyama was exceptional I thought, and orchestrated the game from the centre of the park - can't understand the booing for him. Apart from Midjtylland he gave his all for the club and moved on. Booing always spurs players on, we should know that by now. I didn't think we were especially bad last night - certainly we were unlucky with the penalty, red card, and lack of red card to Vertonghen, but Spurs were just much better and more incisive on the night (just why didn't Tadic shoot at an open goal!) Just a side note - I liked the positivity of the triple change made by Puel. We needed to TRY and take the game by the scruff of the neck, and that's just what he tried. Credit to him. We just got tired at the end.. Best player for Saints was Romeu (after the red card, he was exceptional). Everyone else had an average game which just isn't good enough against a top side like Spurs. Onwards and upwards though - let's get the win against West Brom and put some daylight between us and the chasing pack.

0

Southampton Polls