{"id":427772,"date":"2011-05-21T07:34:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-21T07:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/21\/tottenham-%e2%80%93-birmingham-preview-visitors-out-to-avoid-becoming-first-premier-league-club-to-be-relegated-in-the-same-season-as-winning-a-trophy\/"},"modified":"2011-05-21T07:34:00","modified_gmt":"2011-05-21T07:34:00","slug":"tottenham-birmingham-preview-visitors-out-to-avoid-becoming-first-premier-league-club-to-be-relegated-in-the-same-season-as-winning-a-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/21\/tottenham-birmingham-preview-visitors-out-to-avoid-becoming-first-premier-league-club-to-be-relegated-in-the-same-season-as-winning-a-trophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Tottenham \u2013 Birmingham Preview:  Visitors out to avoid becoming first Premier League club to be relegated in the same season as winning a trophy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<h2>A crucial clash at both ends of the table takes place at White Hart Lane with Spurs gunning for fifth place and the Blues aiming simply to stay in the top flight<\/h2>\n<h3>By Gill Clark<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div readability=\"73.5590863952\">\n<div readability=\"17.5238095238\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Stephen Carr lifts the League Cup for Birmingham after victory over Arsenal (Getty)\" src=\"http:\/\/u.goal.com\/125000\/125053_news.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Stephen Carr lifts the League Cup for Birmingham after victory over Arsenal (Getty)<\/p>\n<h4>Related Links<\/h4>\n<h4>Teams<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<p><span id=\"divAdnetKeyword\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kitbag.com\/stores\/kitbag\/football.aspx?portal=OGQCV6S9\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img64.imageshack.us\/img64\/8849\/kitbagsmall.png\" alt=\"\" \/><br \/>Shop for the latest footy kit<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"10\" cellpadding=\"10\">\n<tbody readability=\"4.5\">\n<tr readability=\"13.5\">\n<td width=\"90%\" readability=\"12\">\n<p><span><em><strong>Tottenham (4-4-1-1)<\/strong>: Cudicini; Corluka, King, Dawson, Rose; Lennon, Modric, Sandro, Pienaar; Van der Vaart; Crouch.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td width=\"10%\">\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>\nTottenham top scorer Rafael van der Vaart is a doubt with a calf problem although the Dutchman has insisted this week he will do his utmost to prove his fitness for the final game of the season. Steven Pienaar is also doubtful with a groin problem but could feature.<\/p>\n<p>Yet there is good news for Spurs too as goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, defenders Alan Hutton, Ledley King and Benoit Assou-Ekotto, as well as midfielders Jermaine Jenas, Tom Huddlestone and Wilson Palacios are all expected to be fit.<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"10\" cellpadding=\"10\">\n<tbody readability=\"5\">\n<tr readability=\"15\">\n<td width=\"90%\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><span><em><strong>Birmingham City<\/strong> <strong>(4-5-1)<\/strong>: Foster; Carr, Johnson, Davies, Ridgewell; Larsson, Gardner, Ferguson, Fahey, Beausejour; Jerome.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td width=\"10%\">\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>\nAlex McLeish is able to recall Craig Gardner and Liam Ridgewell from suspension but the Blues have a number of injury problems and could be without Stuart Parnaby, Martin Jiranek and Lee Bowyer.<\/p>\n<p>A knee injury means Alex Hleb will definitely miss out as well as the on-loan David Bentley who is ineligible against his parent club.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"c19\" src=\"http:\/\/u.goal.com\/117200\/117211_news.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"250\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A win for <strong>Tottenham<\/strong> will see them finish fifth and confirm Europa League football for next season. Yet if they were to lose,\u00a0 Liverpool would only need a draw against Aston Villa to claim fifth spot due to their superior goal difference.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>However, Spurs have a superb home record this season in the league: they have lost just once at White Hart Lane, to Wigan Athletic back in August.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Tottenham\u2019s win over Liverpool last weekend brought an end to a poor run and was their first victory in seven games.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>But Spurs have only beaten Birmingham once in their last five attempts, that victory coming back in August 2009, courtesy of a 90th minute Aaron Lennon winner.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Harry Redknapp\u2019s men have drawn more games at home than any other team this season (nine) and their last three home games have all ended all square (against Blackpool, West Brom and Arsenal).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Birmingham<\/strong> are out to avoid becoming the first Premier League side ever to win a trophy and be relegated in the same season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>However, the Blues are on a rotten run and have won just two of their last 12 Premier League matches.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The bottom of the table is so tight with Birmingham level on points with Blackpool and Wigan (and only out of the bottom three by virtue of one goal) that they could lose to Spurs and stay up, or win and still go down.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Striker Cameron Jerome (pictured) has not scored in the Premier League for six months. His last goal came back on November 9 in the 3-2 defeat to Stoke City.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Birmingham have scored the fewest goals in the top flight, having netted just 36 goals in 37 games.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<div><em>Follow the Premier League <strong>LIVE<\/strong> on Goal.com:<br \/>Commentaries, Stats, Player Ratings and much more,<br \/>Visit Goal.com <a href=\"http:\/\/www.goal.com\/en-gb\/live-scores\/fixtures?tab=all\">Live Scores<\/a>!<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Originally posted here:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.goal.com\/en-gb\/news\/2896\/premier-league\/2011\/05\/21\/2495888\/tottenham-birmingham-preview-visitors-out-to-avoid-becoming\" title=\"Tottenham \u2013 Birmingham Preview:  Visitors out to avoid becoming first Premier League club to be relegated in the same season as winning a trophy\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tottenham \u2013 Birmingham Preview:  Visitors out to avoid becoming first Premier League club to be relegated in the same season as winning a trophy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> A crucial clash at both ends of the table takes place at White Hart Lane with Spurs gunning for fifth place and the Blues aiming simply to stay in the top flight By Gill Clark Stephen Carr lifts the League Cup for Birmingham after victory over Arsenal (Getty) Related Links Teams Shop for the latest footy kit Tottenham (4-4-1-1) : Cudicini; Corluka, King, Dawson, Rose; Lennon, Modric, Sandro, Pienaar; Van der Vaart; Crouch. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-427772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - 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