This Saturday’s Premier League action gets underway at the Vitality Stadium and with Bournemouth playing host to Tottenham, this could well be the game that sees Mauricio Pochettino’s men confirm a top four finish.
The North London outfit make the visit to the South Coast, knowing that a win will finally see them earn one of the prizes in the race for the Champions League places and if that is to be the case, then they may well have the poor form of others to thank.
After defeats to both Manchester City and West Ham, Tottenham fans would have had every reason to fear the worst and those fears would have seen the Champions League Semi-finalists drop out of the top four places in the Premier League.
However, dropped points seems to be the recent mantra for any club lying third to sixth in the table and somehow it seems as if Tottenham have dodged not one, but two bullets, in their quest to secure a return to Europe’s premier club competition.
While after defeat to Ajax on Tuesday, it may well be that they have to rely on their league placing to get them back to the Champions League next season and it is that midweek performance, which will have many asking a very pertinent question.
One that quite simply asks, whether or not Tottenham have hit the wall at the worst possible time? Four defeats in all competitions, would certainly suggest they have and just as worrying, is the fact that they’ve lost their attacking spark also.
Since that incredible game against Manchester City in the Champions League Quarter-finals, Tottenham have failed to find the net and the lack of Harry Kane is finally becoming a burden around the neck of his teammates.
Knowing that a win will book a top four place, you could expect Mauricio Pochettino to go as full strength as possible on Saturday. At the same time, with Ajax only holding a one goal advantage into Wednesday’s second leg, that might not prove to be the case and key men could be rested.
Bournemouth have been incredibly indifferent as of late and they will be thankful of the fact, that they’ve never really been dragged into a relegation battle this season, although this has arguably been the reason for their poor recent form.
With nothing to play for, Bournemouth have struggled to get going and although there have been a couple of impressive performances, it is fair to say that this has been the exception rather than the rule for Eddie Howe’s men.
One of those impressive performances, came as recently as last Saturday and the point that they earned away at Southampton. A six-goal thriller, saw honours even at St Mary’s and did at least show that Bournemouth have some fight left in them.
Bournemouth fans, will hope that they can use that result as the launchpad for a solid showing against an out of sorts Tottenham. If that does prove to be the case, it could be another frustrating afternoon for the visitors and one that ends in a draw.