Spurs could have asked for an easier test after some time-off, Rafa will finally get a good reception from the crowd and it’s squeaky bum time for Stoke and Norwich.
Not the easiest assignment for Spurs after ten days off
Barring the ultra-hard working folk in the JOE office, of course, most people returning to work after a holiday like to take on a few relatively easy tasks on their first day back at work and ease themselves in before getting back into a routine once again.
That won’t be the case for Spurs this weekend, unfortunately.
They probably couldn’t have picked a better time to have a ten-day break ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Manchester City, having won only one of their last seven games in all competitions, a run which prompted talk of another end of season collapse for the North London side.
The problem for them is that, while AVB will have been doing his best to re-energise his troops ahead of one final push for a Champions League place, their opponents, Manchester City, looked ominously good against Manchester United and Chelsea, when they arguably played their best football of the season to date.
Whether or not Gareth Bale is fit to return could have massive implications on the result, but while he is undoubtedly Spurs’ most important player, those that fall into a similar category for City – Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez – have all been close to last season’s form in recent weeks and if they can replicate that against Spurs, a point will be the least of their ambitions.
At least Rafa will finally get a good reception from the crowd
As he’s not exactly popular in Stamford Bridge or in a lot of other grounds around the Premier League, it will be a welcome change in reception for Rafa Benitez at Anfield this weekend, where he is still highly regarded by the majority of the club’s supporters, some of whom – without meaning any disrespect to Brendan Rodgers – would love to have him back in the dugout.
Given the cold reception he’s received from both the Chelsea fans and hierarchy so far, Rafa might be tempted to send out a dud team against his former club seeing as he won’t be hanging around in the summer anyway, but he won’t do that because it’s ridiculous and it would upset the decent momentum the Blues have built up of late.
One of these lads will get a good reception at Anfield, the other… not so much
Liverpool fans will feel that their team is good enough to fighting for a place in the Champions League rather than trying to affect the race for places in the competition from the outside, but it is because of their inconsistency that they aren’t higher up the table.
It is also because of their inconsistency that it would be no surprise if they put in a huge performance against one of the big boys on the back of two mediocre displays against West Ham and Reading, two teams they have to be beating to be in contention for the top four once again.
Still, with all the elements involved – Rafa’s return, Chelsea’s battle for the Champions League spot, Fernando Torres going back to Anfield again – it should be a cracker at Anfield for part two of a Super Sunday that definitely lives up to the billing.
Absolute must-wins for Stoke and Norwich
If you glanced at the Norwich v Reading and QPR v Stoke games a few weeks back, you probably would have given them the oh so clichéd ‘relegation six-pointer’ tags, but now they are simply three-pointers because the three points that Reading and QPR have to gain will ultimately mean nothing to them in the end.
For Stoke and Norwich on the other hand, they are absolutely must-win games. Having been gradually falling down the slope for weeks now, Stoke are firmly ensconced in the relegation mudbath and it might just be too late for them to try and regain the much-needed momentum to stave off relegation, which seemed nigh on impossible at Christmas.
Norwich’s form is a little bit better but they draw way too many games – 14 in total, equal with Everton as the most in the league – and they need to turn one point into three a few more times before the season’s end, starting with Reading at home this weekend.
For Chris Hughton’s sake we hope they manage to stay in the Premier League and with many of their relegation rivals facing tough away games this weekend, they mightn’t have a better chance to get some breathing space than they will on Saturday afternoon.
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