Premier League preview: Tottenham v Everton
So it wasn’t quite how he dreamed it would be, but Gareth Bale would have slept well on Wednesday night.
As a child back in Cardiff, the young Bale would no doubt have fantasised about playing in the world’s great stadiums, running at some of the most recognised defenders on the planet and scoring goals that make the great clubs sit up and take notice.
He did just that with his remarkable hat-trick in the San Siro in midweek, but while Bale’s dreams were unlikely to have included his team initially going 4-0 down and being reduced to 10 men, his achievements cannot be ignored.
The Welshman, or “Welsh Cyclone” as La Gazzetta dello Sport described him – an image which conjures up a particularly ill wind hitting a Newport beach on a grey October half term weekend – is now on the radar of the biggest clubs on the continent, not that he’s letting it go to his head.
“I am just happy playing week in, week out for Tottenham and learning my football here,” he said in the aftermath of scaring the European champions to within an inch of their lives.
“I am happy and I want to keep playing. I don’t take any interest in what is written about me because I think it’s best to keep your feet on the ground, go to training and learn, and also learn in the games every week.
“The manager has given me the chance to play and I am grateful for that. In training, we have worked on things and more things are coming into my game. He has given me the confidence and belief to go out there and express myself, and that is the best thing a manager can do.
“Hopefully, there is still a lot more to come from me. I am still young and still learning and I want to keep getting better and better. That’s all I want to do.”
A stark warning to Everton then, but the Blues head to White Hart Lane this weekend in buoyant mood. A Merseyside derby victory can do that to you.
“We were excited to beat Liverpool,” said goalkeeper Tim Howard, speaking of the thoroughly deserved 2-0 victory over the Reds last Sunday, “and now we can play with confidence. We have got momentum and we want to carry on.
“Spurs have built a wonderfully-talented squad and beat us there twice last season. We are going down to roll our sleeves up and dig in and, off the back of how we are playing, we think we can get something there.
“You have to tip your hat to Tottenham and what they have achieved in finishing fourth last season. But we don’t look at them with envy or jealousy and when we stand toe to toe with them I don’t see there being much in it.”
Howard knows that he and his defenders will have to be at their best to keep Spurs out, but after successive clean sheets against both Liverpool and Birmingham, he’s backing himself and his team-mates to do just that.
“Defensively we have been rock solid, he said, “we have cohesiveness and the relationship between the back four and keeper is the key to that.
“We have limited the chances against us and made our blocks when we have needed to. When you combine that with your goalkeeper pulling off the odd save then that is what it is all about.”
That defence won’t have Leon Osman in front of them tomorrow, as the midfielder is ruled out with the ankle injury he picked up in the derby victory, but Steven Pienaar and Louis Saha may return.
Younes Kaboul comes back for Spurs, who will be without Ledley King – injured in last weekend’s win at Fulham. Rafael van der Vaart shone at Craven Cottage, but missed out on playing at the San Siro through suspension. He’ll be back in the starting line-up here, probably playing just off Roman Pavlyuchenko.
The return of the mercurial Dutchman, added to Bale’s form, may just prove the deciding factors here in what promises to be a tight contest.
After coming so close to shocking the San Siro, Tottenham’s Welshman may just be about to better the Blue half of Merseyside.
Prediction: Tottenham 2 Everton 1
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