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Unbeaten Everton
come to the Lane for their second away game on the trot and
will meet a re-invigorated Tottenham side looking to add to
their tally having got off the mark against Sheffield United
on Tuesday.
This 3.00 p.m.
Saturday kick off is likely to be one of few this season,
what with the UEFA Cup looming and if we progress, it will
mean many a Sunday afternoon game. So, this early
season meeting between us and the Toffees (as often seems to
happen) is one to savour for a number of reasons.
Firstly, they are doing well, having four points from two
games, which bodes well for a good game and we have a record
against them which is even better than Bolton's against us.
However, this should not let the team take to the field in
an over-confident manner, as the money that Everton have had
to spend has been used wisely for a change.
Having lost
Duncan Ferguson off the wage bill, the club could afford to
pay the wages of some decent enough buys. Replacing
the troublesome Scot up front, Andy Johnson comes in from
Crystal Palace for a whopping £8.6 million. What do
you get for that ? Well, a busy little striker, who
scores a lot of penalties and becomes an instant hero, being
stripped of his kit in his first pre-season friendly and on
getting his first goal, a badge kisser of the highest
quality. Shoring up things at the back was a priority,
as several of the central defenders were getting on a bit,
so Wolves' Joleon Lescott was signed up. A player who
has had some good times at Molineux, Lescott might have seen
better days, but he is tall, strong and good in the air,
although he likes to think he is good on the ball in a Rio
Ferdinand kind of way. The retirement of Nigel Martyn
left the goalkeeping department light and the season-long
loan of Tim Howard from Manchester United has been a good
move, as he is a pretty good goalie and might benefit from a
long run in the side.
Richard Wright,
John Ruddy and Iain Turner are all among the goalkeeping
ranks at Goodison Park, but will be playing back-up for
Howard. All have good qualities, but they are either
suspect to errors (Wright) or untried in the case of the
other two. Howard is a good shot-stopper, but is rash
coming out of goal sometimes and is beatable one-on-one.
In front of him,
Tony Hibbert has a mystery illness which has ruled him out
pending tests, Nuno Valente has a thigh problem and David
Weir has an ankle injury keeping him out. That leaves
three from Gary Naysmith, Joseph Yobo, Alan Stubbs and
Allesandro Pistone to form the back four with Lescott.
Stubbs and Yobo have been preferred to the new signing, but
I think he will get his first start, as they try to find a
solution to marking Berbatov. Pistone has been
over-looked of late, as he comes back from a knee injury and
the veterans Naysmith and Phil Neville pair up at the back,
with the former Manc having been moved back to full back on
the other side to the Scot. I think that Lennon will
have a lot of joy running at either of the full-backs as he
did at Goodison late in the season and with Routledge on the
bench, it could provide a double route of attack late in the
game. Centrally, the height in the Everton defence
will be hard to get the better of, but Dimitar's movement
might pull them about enough for our midfielders to run in
behind them.
In the Everton
midfield there are Leon Osman, James McFadden, Lee Carsley,
Kevin Kilbane, Simon Davies, Mikael Arteta, Tim Cahill and
Dutchman Andy van der Meyde. The former Internazionale man's
troubles have been well publicised since his arrival, but on
the pitch he has had more problems, with a red card against
Liverpool and some inconsistent performances.
Thjerefore, Moyes has plumped for a four in midfield of
Osman, Arteta, Carsley, Kilbane at home, with Cahill
coming off the bench after his exertions in the World Cup
with Australia. Osman is hard working and likes to get
forward, while Carsley is the foil for the adventurous
midfielder. He gets back to cover and gets stuck in,
while the other two - Kilbane and Arteta are more attack
minded too. Kilbane offers width on the left, while
Arteta is a good passer, who is very good at free-kicks.
Tim Cahill is an all-action midfielder, who enjoys scoring,
but can be drawn into arguments which have nothing to do
with him and this detracts from his dynamic play. In a
game like this, Moyes might choose to put Simon Davies into
the middle of midfield to give some more defensive cover in
there and as we all know, when he is on form, Davies can be
a highly effective player. The Welsh midfielder had a
difficult first season at Everton, with a series of minor
injuries before being moved inside from a wide position.
In the past
there was an inclination to play five in midfield, but with
Andy Johnson and James Beattie up front, the Everton boss
might feel it is better to keep the opposition defence tied
up with two strikers. Beattie has been flitting around
the fringes of the England squad for a while and last season
his early season sending off, injuries and problems settling
in caused him to have a difficult first season at Goodison,
but he scored a few goals at the end of the season.
His height and ability to hold players off should prove
useful as a foil for Johnson's more direct style and the
pairing might prove to be a good one for the Toffees.
Star youngster James Vaughan didn't play all last season as
he struggled to overcome knee ligament surgery undertaken by
the expert in this field Dr. Steadman in the US, but it is
hoped that he will be able to play more this season to
realise some of his striking potential. Victor
Anichebe is another youngster being given his chance this
season and has a two year contract to show what he can do,
but might have to settle for a place on the bench at best.
Tottenham will
be looking to pass the ball as well as they did against
Sheffield United and for a similar outcome. What they
will find is a Blues team full of effort and determined to
stay unbeaten, with Moyes rallying them on from the
touchline. Lennon will be key, but the visitors will
have made provision for his runs, but this should leave
space for others to operate in. Keane can pull strings
from his deeper position and with Tainio marauding forward,
it leaves Davids to put in the hard graft to make sure there
is enough cover. It might be time to give Edgar a rest
after two games in four days, with Zokora starting, now he
has an idea of what will face him.
At the back, the
aerial threat should be coped with well by Dawson and
Davenport, but the nippy Johnson will have to be watched and
the timing of tackles well made, otherwise penalties might
follow. Robbo will need to command his area and the
wide defenders keep Kilbane and Osman in check to stop the
supply to the front men. This game will be a lot tighter
than many might think and if Spurs can prevent Everton
getting into the game, then they could come out as winners
...
PREDICTION
: - Tottenham Hotspur 2 Everton
1
For more information on
the opponents and their history, including full result history of
matches between the two teams, click here.
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| Coverage
TV
Sky Sports 1 Football First - 20.30 (highlights)
Match of the Day (BBC 1) - 22.15 - 23.35 (highlights)
(repeated Sunday 07.35-09.00)
Match of the Day (BBC 2) - 22.00 - 22.50
(highlights)
For coverage in all parts of the world, check
here and
here.
Radio :
BBC
LONDON 94.9FM (London area only)
If
available on BBC radio, it can supposedly be heard
in these countries on these stations ...
Australia (Melbourne)
SEN - 116 AM
Live Transmissions: TWI, Saturday. 12.45 & 1500
matches
Australia (Sydney)
Radio 2 - 1611AM
Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 12.45 Match
Singapore
Media Corp Radio
- 93.8 FM Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00
Match
South Africa
SABC (Radio 2000)
Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
Uganda Radio 1 (English) 90.0 FM, Radio 2 (Lugandan)
87.9 FM Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00
Match
North America (USA, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean)
Sirius Satellite Radio
Live transmission: Saturday - 12.45, 15.00 (TWI) &
17.15 (BBC) Sunday - 14.00 & 16.05 (BBC) Mon, Tue,
Wed - Various times (BBC)
Internet :
www.spurs.co.uk
Live webcast - subscribers only |
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Tottenham Hotspur 0
Everton 2
(Half-time score : 0-2) |
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Saturday 26th August 2006 |
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Referee : Mark
Halsey
(Lancashire) |
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| Weather :
- Warm, dry, sunny |
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Tottenham Hotspur
:
Robinson
Lee
(Defoe 60)
Dawson
Davenport
Assou-Ekotto
Lennon
Jenas
Davids
Tainio (Zokora 74)
Berbatov
Keane
Unused subs:
Cerny
Stalteri
Gardner
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Everton
: Howard
Neville (c)
Yobo
Lescott (Weir 84)
Naysmith
Osman
Carsley
Arteta
Kilbane
Cahill
Johnson
Unused subs:
Wright
Hibbert
Beattie
McFadden |
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Everton
Davenport (own goal) 53
Johnson 66 |
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| Tottenham
Hotspur
Dawson (foul) 38
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Everton
Kilbane (foul) 15
Kilbane (foul - second yellow) 33
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| All
good runs come to an end, but I had hoped for a better performance from
Tottenham in going down 0-2 to a ten man Everton team. An hour
with a man advantage did not prove to be an advantage to Spurs, as is
often the case when other teams are reduced to ten men.
Everton had come to White Hart Lane to make it hard
for Spurs to penetrate their five man midfield and with James Beattie
left on the bench, there was only Andy Johnson up front to cause Spurs
any problems. Tottenham lined up as they had done against
Sheffield United, but the early stages saw the visitors pass the ball
around well and have Spurs struggling to find a rhythm ... something
that continued all game. The tempo that Tottenham played with on
Tuesday was sadly missing and the passing was sloppy, the movement
almost non-existent and the creativity lacking in making openings for
our forwards. It seemed for long periods that Aaron Lennon was the
only key they had to open the Toffees defence.
Ironically, it was not he who made Spurs
favourites to take another three points off Everton at the Lane.
Kilbane took a disliking to Young-Pyo Lee and on the quarter hour ran a
long way to bring him down and receive a yellow card. The Irishman
was lucky not to get another as first he kicked the ball away and then
committed another foul within a minute of getting booked. It was
highly surprising when, 15 minutes later, he again chased Lee down and
took his legs from underneath him to see the ref brandishing another
yellow to be followed by a red.
Spurs had gone closest to scoring between
Kilbane's cards, when a long throw was helps on by Berbatov and Johnson
to the far post, where Gary Naysmith smashed his clearance against his
own bar before it went over the top.
All the first half efforts from Everton failed
to meet the intended target and Robinson had another quiet 45.
Although they manouevred the ball into shooting positions, Osman hit two
shots wide and Lescott aimed a far post header from a corner wide of the
mark. In defence, they were working hard to keep the score at 0-0
at the break and Dawson had a header over the bar from a free-kick, then
the centre half got on the end of Keane's dead ball, but could not get a
good connection and the ball ended up in Tim Howard's arms. His
fellow defender Davenport also rose high to head a corner, but it was
again too high to trouble the Everton keeper. The only other
efforts Tottenham created were long shots from Jenas and Davids, who
both dragged their drives wide.
At the start fo the second half, there were no
changes and that is perhaps where Spurs lost the initiative. Moyes
set out his side, leaving Johnson up front with two banks of four
between Spurs and the Blues goal. It proved too difficult to break
down and putting in tons of work, Everton began to take control and make
Spurs look like the side with ten men. Lennon got more into the
game, but his final ball was not as damaging as it could have been and
the chances that were made were fluffed.
It was a shame that when Mikael Arteta played,
he showed he could be a really potent player, but for me, he looked like
he was more at home throwing himself on the floor every time someone
came near him. He was dictating the Toffees play and when
Assou-Ekotto gave away an unnecessary free-kick near the corner flag,
the Spaniard flighted the ball to the near post, where Joleon Lescott
rose to head the ball, but it was Davenport who unfortunately diverted
the ball past Robinson.
With a man over, it is hard to see how Spurs
let a free header go begging in the box and the second Saturday running
we have conceded from a free-kick. A poor goal to let in at the
best of times, but with an extra man, even worse.
Jol introduced Defoe, taking off Lee and going
with three at the back. It was a brave move, but one which
backfired after six minutes. Lennon cut inside into a bunch of
Everton players, lost the ball and it was moved forward quickly.
Davids held Osman up for a while, but he played a square ball out to
Phil Neville, whose early cross was met by Johnson getting in ahead of
Dawson and beating Robbo from close range. It was a well created
goal and one which Spurs never looked like scoring all afternoon.
Zokora replaced Tainio and seemed to add a
little urgency into the team, but it was a bit too late. Keane had
his legs taken from under him from a position standing in the area, but
Spurs were given a free-kick outside the box. Defoe struck the
free-kick which was touched to him, but it hit the wall and ballooned
away for a corner. As the ball was cleared but played back in,
Dawson, mow being played as another forward, jumped for the ball and
Lescott jumped forcibly into him, without getting anywhere near the
ball. Halsey stopped the game, allowed the Everton newcomer to be
treated, then substitutes and then dropped a ball for Howard to pick up
... all totally against the new advice given to refs by the FA when
dealing with stopping the play for injured players.
The two best chances came right at the death,
when Lennon cut a low ball back from the goal-line for Keane to meet it
at the near post, but his back-flick took the ball wide of the far post.
Into injury time, Spurs forced Howard to his first save. Lennon
once more danced down the right and his cross was this time in the air
and Berbatov managed to get a head on the ball, but it brought an easy
dive for Howard to end the game.
It was a really poor performance by Spurs and
while I will not join those at the ground or those on the radio in
wrist-slitting pessimism, it is of concern that there have been two
performances like this in the first three matched and that this one came
at home. Having lost only to Manchester United and Chelsea in over
two years at White Hart Lane, it was highly disappointing to lose to
this Everton side, who are still in transition.
But it was a deserved victory for the
Merseysiders and will probably see Tottenham splash some cash before the
end of the transfer window, but hopefully, it is in the right positions
and on the right players to strengthen the side. Rumours of Mido's
return circulated outside the ground prior to the game, but this seems
like a panic move if it is true and one which will not work in
Tottenham's favour. The pursuance of Downing makes more sense to
balance the side, although the amount we might have to pay is excessive.
This was always going to be a tough season with
expectation high, but there is still a long way to go and much work to
be done.
MEHSTG TOP MAN : - BENOIT ASSOU-EKOTTO |
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Pete Stachio |
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The following
words cannot truly describe my state of distress and
disappointment following yesterdays debacle.
A good run ?
It wasn't just a good run, it was a magnificent one, better
than Chelsea's against us and when you consider the complete
disarray Spurs have been in for much of those 21 years, it
looked all the better.
There aren't
many home bankers over the course of a season but I always
thought Spurs-Everton was the one, above all others.
Not any more, as the Toffees ripped up the history books,
the rulebook and every other book with a fantastic display
which Spurs failed to match.
In fact, they
didn't come close. For this, there are many, many
reasons, because I cannot and will not accept that Everton
are better than us. Not a chance in hell. They make
three bloody signings, as did we, and theirs are better than
ours ? B******s. I've said it a million times
before and will do so again. The problem is simply
that our 'genius' manager has failed to recognize the duff
players that cost us so dearly last season AND,
astonishingly, continues to select them for first team duty.
Davids
has ceased to be any sort of force since returning from
injury in January and has done more harm than good, perhaps
contributing toward Michael Carrick's exit from White Hart
Lane. Likewise, Lee Young-Pyo has never settled and,
be it left or right, just looks out of his depth.
Seeing how well Glen Johnson has done at Portsmouth leaves
me green with envy, as he's been on my wish-list ever since
the arrival, and subsequent departure, of Pamarot. The
other
potential target was Daniel Alves, the brilliant star of
Seville, who destroyed Barcelona in the European Super Cup
last week. The boy has it all. Pace, strength,
skill and two powerful feet, as Middlesboro found out in
last season's UEFA Cup final. He's easily the best
right-back in the world, after Zambrotta, and if the Catalan
giants hadn't signed the Italian World Cup-winner, it
would've been Alves. Liverpool were interested but put
off by the £12m asking fee, which is fully justified for
such a crucial player. With the funds available,
through the sales of Carrick and Reid, Spurs could've
afforded a player twice as good as Chimbonda and still had
enough to capture Stewart Downing and welcome back Mido.
These
are the players we need and surely MJ knows this ... surely.
Sadly, it's too late for Alves, as it seems he's staying at
Seville, where Fredi Kanoute is banging the goals in for
fun. Sods law, eh. It's not too late for Spurs
to nab Chimbonda before Boro do. He isn't great but
will
give us more than what we've got now. Similarly,
Downing is nowhere near as potent as Damien Duff, who was
first choice and available for much less. At least
Downing is miles better than Reid and could give us more
than Ziegler at present. God knows, Lennon needs a
hand.
Mido is
needed because he offers a good alternative to Berbatov
against certain opposition, such as Bolton and Everton, when
the action gets a little too physical for the skinny
Bulgarian. Barnard can handle himself but I'm not sure
he's got top-flight goals in him.
With
just six days left, I'm hopeful but unsure if Spurs will
make these signings and whether or not they care enough to.
Perhaps Levy and his boardroom chums are more concerned with
banking the Carrick-Reid cash. Then again, it's hard
to imagine a man like Jol not getting whatever he wants from
his chairman, so the possibility that our head coach has
made an almighty cock-up in judgement has credence.
How can MJ not realise that Davids is shot to pieces ?
Astonishing. Doesn't MJ realise that it would be far
more beneficial to the future of the club to be playing Phil
Ifil until we bring in Chimbonda ? Also, how on earth
is Jenas still getting in the Spurs XI and the England squad
with displays such as yesterday ? Absolutely zero
cutting edge and the occasional goal, together with lots of
running (off ball, of course) is not going to disguise that.
Jenas should never be any more than a squad member, albeit
an expensive one, as there are others more deserving of some
involvement in the first team. The likes of O'Hara,
Huddlestone and Murphy must be nutting a wall with
frustration, seeing how inept Davids & Jenas are.
Heaven knows, I am.
Enough
already. All I can say is that by the time we visit
Everton next year, we'll have the right personnel, system
and attitude in place to take them apart like we should've
done yesterday.
S J
Wightman |
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With the up and down
season already in place, this down will test Spurs' power of
bouncebackability, as their next game will be against Manchester United
and if we play like this there will be more weeping and a wailing from
the Spurs contingent on the radio phone-ins. So far, the team have
made sure we have rarely suffered back-to-back defeats, much as they
have avoided losing many games at home, but this was a poor performance
and I want to look at each players part in it.
Robinson : - Went
under one cross horrendously, but didn't have a lot else to do apart
from pick two balls out of the net. Needs to command the box in
King's absence to give Davenport and Dawson more confidence.
Assou-Ekotto : - must learn not to dive in, to keep his elbows down and
to make sure of things in our defending third. Played well, with
some well timed interventions, linked well up the right and got forward,
but let the ball get nicked off him and then fouled Johnson to give away
the free-kick that led to the first goal. Needs to settle in a bit
more.
Davenport : - Did well in the air, but then he should have done against
Johnson. Showed more composure than against Sheffield United, but
lost his man on occasion and appeared to be affected by the own goal,
which he had little chance of getting out of the way of.
Dawson : - Missing King alongside him. Did well, but lost AJ for
the goal and finished the game being thrown up front as an extra
attacker.
Lee : - Did OK on the right, but still looks weak. Knocked over
twice to see Kilbane get two yellows ... one easily, the other the
Everton man's own fault. Defensively, nto a lot came down their
left, so a reasonably easy time. Still needs a better delivery
when in wide position.
Davids : - Loose control and lack of pace to go past people often leads
to him having to track back to retrieve the ball, but he doesn't have
the legs for it any more. Did well in the second half to link
play, but was one of the reasons it looked like Everton had 11 and we
had 10. Three games in a week too much for him and should have
been replaced at the break.
Jenas : - Had to shift to right back when the changes were made, but had
one of those games when he doesn't do himself any favours. Gave
the ball away and had little chance to get forward, when he should have
been making the most of the spare man and the space that provided.
Tainio : - Had a less effective game and might not have been 100% fit.
Seemed restricted in his forward movement, but did manage to set up
others for shots and had a go himself. One of the better
performers, although subbed by Zokora.
Lennon : - Always bright and wanting the ball. Found it
difficult to get into a position to do damage, as they doubled up on him
and it was only near the end that he got any joy. Only one with
any idea about creating anything.
Keane : - Poor game. When his flicks don't come off, Robbie
looks bad. Failed to spark anything today and his link-up play
with Berbatov was nto as successful as Tuesday night.
Berbatov : - When he doesn't score or set up someone else, we will
get performances like this that look like he does nothing. He was
still running off the ball and getting into the position to score if the
ball came to him ... but it didn't. Only as good as the service he
receives and this afternoon, he received none. Not "the new
Rebrov" as some idiot called him on the way out.
Defoe : - Little time or opportunity to make a difference as one
of three forwards. Everton were dictating the game by then and he
would have been better coming on at the break to give the Toffees
something else to think about rather than think about how they were
going to destroy Spurs.
Zokora : - Late sub for Tainio, but did well when he came on and
looked to prompt attacks whenever he got the ball. Yet to see the
best of him.
Heathrow Spur |
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Other scores
this weekend : |
| Charlton Athletic |
2 |
Bolton Wanderers |
0 |
Saturday |
| Fulham |
1 |
Sheffield United |
0 |
Saturday |
| Liverpool |
2 |
West Ham United |
1 |
Saturday |
| Manchester City |
1 |
Arsenal |
0 |
Saturday |
| Watford |
1 |
Manchester United |
2 |
Saturday |
| Wigan Athletic |
1 |
Reading |
0 |
Saturday |
| Aston Villa |
2 |
Newcastle United |
0 |
Sunday |
| Blackburn Rovers |
0 |
Chelsea |
2 |
Sunday |
| Middlesbrough |
0 |
Portsmouth |
4 |
Monday |
|
League
Table |
| |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
GD |
|
1 |
Manchester
United |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
2 |
9 |
+8 |
|
2 |
Portsmouth |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
7 |
+7 |
|
3 |
Aston
Villa |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
7 |
+3 |
|
4 |
Everton |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
7 |
+3 |
|
5 |
Chelsea |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
6 |
+4 |
|
6 |
West
Ham United |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
+1 |
|
7 |
Liverpool |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
+1 |
|
8 |
Bolton
Wanderers |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
|
9 |
Manchester
City |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
-2 |
|
10 |
Fulham |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
4 |
-3 |
|
11 |
Wigan
Athletic |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
|
12 |
Reading |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
3 |
-1 |
|
13 |
Newcastle
United |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
-1 |
|
14 |
TOTTENHAM
HOTSPUR |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
-2 |
|
15 |
Charlton
Athletic |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
-3 |
|
16 |
Middlesbrough |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
3 |
-4 |
|
17 |
Arsenal |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
-1 |
|
18 |
Watford
|
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
-2 |
|
19 |
Sheffield United |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
-3 |
|
20 |
Blackburn
Rovers |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
-5 |
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