{"id":249348,"date":"2018-10-05T06:01:10","date_gmt":"2018-10-05T10:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonfootball.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=249348"},"modified":"2018-10-05T06:01:10","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T10:01:10","slug":"depleted-tottenham-hotspur-face-cardiff-city-in-premier-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2018\/10\/05\/depleted-tottenham-hotspur-face-cardiff-city-in-premier-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Depleted Tottenham Hotspur Face Cardiff City in Premier League"},"content":{"rendered":"

A depleted Tottenham Hotspur<\/a> return to Premier League action this weekend against Cardiff City<\/a> at Wembley. Spurs worked hard but were ultimately outclassed by Barcelona<\/a> in the Champions League<\/a>. Cardiff City are yet to win a game this season and are already favourites for a swift return to the Championship. Last Word on Football<\/a> looks forward to the Saturday 3 PM clash.<\/p>\n

Depleted Tottenham Hotspur Face Cardiff City<\/h1>\n

Tottenham have had an indifferent start to the Premier League season. An unbeaten start, including a 3-0 win over Manchester United<\/a>, showed Spurs as top four favourites once again. Mauricio Pochettino warned against complacency. The warning wasn\u2019t heeded and Spurs were poor against Watford, losing 2-1. Tottenham then threw away a lead in the Champions League at Inter Milan. Suddenly, a bright start was replaced with manager rants<\/a> and lethargic performances.<\/p>\n

Spurs beat Huddersfield<\/a> 2-0 before a 4-2 defeat in the Champions League to Barcelona on Wednesday night. Spurs’ injury concerns have mounted and the lack of transfer activity in the summer is looking misguided.<\/p>\n

Five Missing<\/h2>\n

Jan Vertonghen, Moussa Dembele, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, and Serge Aurier are out with injuries<\/a>. Erik Lamela, Eric Dier and Harry Winks are expected to start<\/a> with Heung Min Son and Lucas Moura likely to join Harry Kane in attack.<\/p>\n

Cardiff Looking for First Win<\/h2>\n

Cardiff have found life hard back in the top flight and Neil Warnock\u2019s men are yet to win a game. Warnock has a good record<\/a> of getting teams out of the Championship with a record eight promotions. When it comes to managing in the Premier League, his record is not as prolific.<\/p>\n

Warnock will be looking for a point against a depleted Tottenham Hotspur but that looks an unlikely scenario. However, with Spurs missing key players, maybe this is a good time to take on Spurs for the Bluebirds.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/h2>\n

Cardiff have looked short on firepower and it is hard to see anything but a Spurs win, even with key personnel missing. \u00a0Spurs will face sterner tests when injuries could cause issues but a 3-0 win for Pochettino\u2019s men should keep them in the top four.<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a>