This weekend sees a repeat of the fixtures on the opening day of the season. A lot has changed at White Hart Lane since then, and it is two different managers who meet in the game this afternoon.

Spurs are currently big favourites (1.45 on Betfair) to win this match. No more than you would expect for 6th against 18th at home, and a huge 21 points separate the teams. However, I don’t see things being quite that simple.

One of Spurs’ biggest problems this season has been breaking down defensive teams, especially at home. Tony Pulis is no mug and will have noted this. He will almost certainly set up to defend. We only won the game at Selhurst Park 1-0 with a penalty and this will be a real test of whether Tim Sherwood has really improved the team going forward.

I expect a 4-4-2, this week it makes a lot more sense than it did away at Arsenal. We still have some key injuries, not least Paulinho and Vertonghen. Lennon has been our best performer recently and his pace and willingness to run at defenders may hold the key today.

My team would be:

LLoris

Walker, Dawson, Chiriches, Rose

Lennon, Dembele, Capoue, Eriksen

Adebayor, Soldado