It is a case of square pegs in square holes needed this afternoon as Saints travel to North London for their first ever visit to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Most Saints fans would agree that the reason we got beaten by Bournemouth was that we played half of the defence out of position with Cedric on the left and Kevin Danso on the right.

At Portsmouth Ralph Hasenhuttl remedied that and we looked a more cohesive unit for that, although it should be noted that Pompey are far from a Premier League quality side.

But the lesson was learned from last weekend and hopefully will have been fully noted and this afternoon at Spurs we will see a stronger more disciplined Saints defence.

This will be a tough game despite Spurs turmoils and I have to say that I think that this could be the last time we see Mauricio Pochetino with a Spurs side, we will see him again this season away from home, I think he will be Manchester United manager by the time we play at Old Trafford next April.

But for today we need to be strong and resolute and able to sit deep and catch them on the break, very similar to our last visit to Old Trafford ironically enough.

Last season we only got a single point on the road to a Big Six side and we need to better than this season so today is a good chance to get at least a point on the board.

To do that I would say that this is our strongest line up.

Gunn

Cedric Bednarek, Danso, Bertrand

Boufal, Hojbjerg, Romeu JWP Bertrand

Ings

Subs

McCarthy, Adams, Valery, Yoshida, Long, Armstrong, Obafemi.

Some would say Yoshida in the back four, but we need to start playing Danso in the position we signed him to play and that wasn't as a full back, we need his strength and pace in the centre.

So a tough game this afternoon but one we can compete in and hopefully get a point or three.

Photo: Action Images

aceofthebase added 09:08 - Sep 28 Can'tsee Bertrand playing in both positions somehow!!!
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aceofthebase added 09:13 - Sep 28 Bit harsh dropping Redmond.
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vanmans added 09:37 - Sep 28 I would play Gunn Cedric, Bednarek, Yoshida, Bertrand Hojbjerg, Romeu, Boufal, Redmond, Obafemi, Ings Prowse has been rubbish this season.
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A1079 added 09:40 - Sep 28 It isn't all about the defence. If we took at least some of our chances up front, the mistakes that the defence make would be less of an issue. Our scoring rate is as much a failure as our defensive frailties. Hopefully, Tuesday will have put some confidence into those tasked with scoring, but until they do it at PL level, we will continue to struggle. Most teams that get relegated or struggle tend to be ones, with a low goals for ratio.

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A1079 added 09:40 - Sep 28 It isn't all about the defence. If we took at least some of our chances up front, the mistakes that the defence make would be less of an issue. Our scoring rate is as much a failure as our defensive frailties. Hopefully, Tuesday will have put some confidence into those tasked with scoring, but until they do it at PL level, we will continue to struggle. Most teams that get relegated or struggle tend to be ones, with a low goals for ratio.

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halftimeorange added 10:34 - Sep 28 I agree with Vanmans but, I can't see RH seeing it this way. Vestergaard was rested against Pompey so I'll wager he returns. JWP seems to be an RH favourite so no Obafemi either. Until the defence is truly plugged or we start taking our chances instead of passing backwards a la JWP we'll be scraping the odd point until we're into November. Difficult times ahead in the short term, although I hope I'm wrong.

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HythePeer added 10:36 - Sep 28 Gunn Cedric Bednarek, Vest, Bertrand Romeu Hojbjerg Danso Boufal, Redmond Ings Subs McCarthy, Armstrong, Adams, Valery, Yoshida, Obafemi, N'LUNDULU, Stephens
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SanMarco added 12:27 - Sep 28 Good preview. I kind of agree with those saying its not just the defence - but the defence is still the most important. Palace were 4 down in no time a couple of weeks ago. If we defend well and have a bit of luck then a goal or two will get us at least a point. Defend poorly and it doesn't matter how many we score (we got 2 in that dreadful game at Wembley and would still have lost scoring 4). Interesting point about MoPo. Real Madrid and even Barca must also be a possibility. I am not even going to worry about which team Ralph will be leading out when we next play Spuds... Spuds have a big game against Munich on Tuesday so that may be a factor if we can keep it close. He's not going to drop JWP and I would go for Redmond over Obafemi. As for the defence I think the tall lad will be back - please not 3 CBs, it wastes nearly a third of the outfield team on players from our weakest pool of talent.

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A_Saint_in_Stoke added 14:03 - Sep 28 Anyone know the percentage of JWP passing --  that he actually moves forward .... as apposed to Back - Back - Sideways - Back - Back - Sideways - Back -Sideways .......... I would guess - just watching this boring/annoying play that it's only between 10 - 15%. And before anyone points out - that it could be a good idea that the other team players move into free space - so he was able to move the ball forward - instead of picking their noses on the halfway line!!

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