LeeDixon

[u]Match Odds[/u] One of the keys to Tottenham's superb first half of the season was their strong defence. And no-one was more influential in that than Brad Friedel. The American keeps breaking records and is a credit to himself and the sport. There have always been younger keepers at all the Premier League clubs he's been at, knocking at the door to take his place. But Friedel just keeps on working at his game, training hard, looking after his body and is hungry to keep on playing. For my money he's right up there with the very best keepers the Premier League has had. Peter Schmeichel is normally regarded as the best this league has seen and it's hard to argue with that. But after him I'd probably nominate David Seaman. Yes, of course I'm a little biased! But I played in front of him...

Everyone will have their own theories to explain Tottenham's recent struggles but the truth is they're not winning matches or playing that well. With QPR enjoying good home form, we need to take on Harry Redknapp's side. QPR must be feeling pretty hard-done by at the moment. They've done a good job of winning their own matches and some of those were tough, Liverpool and Arsenal for instance. What they didn't count on was that Wigan would perform some giant-killing acts of their own and beat Manchester United at home and Arsenal away. I think Wolves are definitely down (if not mathematically) and I'm not sure Blackburn have it in them to get six points or more from their last four matches. So it should be a straight shoot-out between QPR and Bolton and it's very much advantage for ...

Neither team got the result they wanted in midweek but there's little doubt which side looks in better nick coming into the first Premier League game of the weekend. This is fourth versus fifth and two of London's finest going head-to-head but what looked like being a memorable season for Spurs is turning sour while a campaign that was going off-beam for Chelsea is coming good for the final few months. The Betfair market says this will be a home win and, to be brutally honest, I can't find a reason to disagree with them. [u]Match Odds[/u] Chelsea have been in decent form under their new manager, albeit with a couple of wins achieved against Championship opposition in the FA Cup. And, though they lost at City from a winning position, going 1-0 up away from home was a positive. They...

I've written elsewhere that this is arguably the most important north London derby of Arsene Wenger's time at Arsenal. Others have had league titles at stake and they've all had bragging rights at stake. But this time it's almost Arsene's job that could be at stake. Being out of both domestic Cups, the Premier League title race and now almost certainly the Champions League is bad enough. But if they were to lose at home to Tottenham to cap it all off, it's not too far-fetched to think that could be the point at which the fans finally turn on their manager in numbers. [u]Match Odds[/u] This really is one of those games where you could make a case for all three outcomes. Spurs are the in-form side, high on confidence and won this fixture at White Hart Lane earlier in the campaign....

We'll have to wait and see whether Harry Redknapp takes the England job or not. For all we know, he doesn't want it at this moment in time. But all the speculation about it won't be doing him or Tottenham any good at the moment when they have an in-form Newcastle making the trip to White Hart Lane. [u]Match Odds[/u] Tottenham's match away at Liverpool wasn't exactly a classic but Redknapp will have seen it as a good point earned at a ground where the home side very seldom gets beaten. This match is a different story though and the Spurs boss will be seeing it as one that he really needs to win if his side are to stay in the title race. The Betfair market makes them 1.53 to do just that but I'm not so sure about that price. Newcastle may be missing Cheick Tiote (international duty),...

Before a ball had been kicked in anger, many were predicting that it would be Liverpool who would improve significantly on last year's finish (sixth) and that Spurs would probably finish in a very similar position to last year's fifth. But here we are, almost exactly two thirds into the season and it's Tottenham who have made all the progress, sitting pretty in third, not yet out of the title race and looking good for a Champions League place at the very least. As for Liverpool, they've had a strange sort of season. Steven Gerrard has been out injured for most of it; they lost the grossly under-rated Lucas to injury; Andy Carroll has spent most of the time on the bench; and other big money signings like Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson are yet to find their best form. They've beaten the...