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READ ME : WUM's will betreated in the same way they treat this article...This is the SPURSMatch Thread, feel free to make one on your own board....If you annoymy fellow Spurs fans, you annoy me...You's getz me?#layingdownthelaw
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Tottenham Hotspur must beat Sunderland on Sunday to stand any chance of pipping local rivals Arsenal to UEFA Champions League qualification.A seven-game unbeaten run has kept Spurs in the hunt for a top-four finish and, not for the first time, it has boiled down to a final day shoot-out with Arsenal.If the Gunners fail to win at Newcastle United, then a Spurs win over another team from the North East will clinch a place in the Champions League qualifiers for Andre Villas-Boas' side.Sunderland have nothing to play for and that could work in Spurs' favour, but Villas-Boas has already seen his team suffer surprise home defeats by Wigan and Fulham this season.Gareth Bale will undoubtedly be the central figure to Spurs' prospects of claiming a win, but at least last week's triumph at Stoke City proved they are not completely reliant on the Welshman's goals.The 2-1 success at the Britannia Stadium was the first time that Tottenham had won in the league without a goal from Bale since New Year's Day.Sunderland head to the capital assured of Premier League football next season after Wigan's defeat at Arsenal in midweek settled the sole outstanding relegation issue.Paolo Di Canio has collected eight points from six games since replacing Martin O'Neill and will be targeting a shock success to take momentum into next term.
TOTTENHAM Team News
Defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto has recovered from a knee injury and is available for Tottenham's crunch clash against Sunderland. The Cameroon international sat out last weekend's win at Stoke, but has trained with the team this week and could come back into his usual left-back position.Long-term absentees Sandro (knee), Younes Kaboul (thigh) and William Gallas (calf) are unavailable.
SUNDERLAND Team News
Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio will need to plug the hole left by loan signing Danny Rose. The England Under-21 international left-back is ineligible to play against his parent club and midfielder Jack Colback seems the most likely man to fill in.Striker Stephane Sessegnon completes his three-match ban while midfielder Craig Gardner sits out the second game of his enforced lay-off, although Connor Wickham is available after returning as a substitute against Southampton following a month out with a calf injury.
TBH, I am more concerned by the fact that Madrid appear to have paid eff-all on the Modric bill.
If Bale is going, Levy needs nearly all of it upfront, by July at the latest.
