Carlisle United v Tottenham Hotspur Preview Capital One Cup
By Logan Holmes
Tottenham make their seasonal debut in the Capital One Cup (League Cup) with a long trip north to Carlisle United at Brunton Park for the 3rd Round tie. It will be Tottenham’s fourth Cup visit to Carlisle, the second in the League Cup. The last time the two clubs met was in September, 1997 in this competition, then known as the Coca-Cola Cup. On that occasion it was in the 2nd round and Spurs brought a slender one goal lead from the 1st Leg at White Hart Lane, having won 3 – 2. Tottenham won 2 – 0 with two goals either side of half-time but it took a controversial penalty scored by David Ginola to set Spurs on their way before Chris Armstrong added the second.
Carlisle’s Capital One Cup Progress
This will be Carlisle’s third game in this season’s competition and their third home tie as they defeated League Two side Accrington Stanley 1 — 0 in the 1st Round as their opening competitive match in mid-August. It was a first half goal from Matty Robson which sealed the win. They were victors over Championship side, Ipswich Town, 2 – 1 after extra time in Round 2 at the end of August. Teenage substitute Mark Beck headed in a 90th-minute equaliser to cancel out Massimo Luongo’s first-half opener in dramatic fashion at Brunton Park and David Symington, another of Carlisle boss Greg Abbott’s substitutions, scored a 99th-minute winner to cause an upset. Luongo is a young Tottenham midfield player who is on a season long loan at Ipswich.
Carlisle are currently in 10th position in League One. They have 12 points from eight matches and have won one and drawn two of their four home games. They have won two and drawn one away match. Their League season opened with a 1 – 1 draw at Stevenage but they then suffered a 3 – 0 home defeat to Tranmere Rovers. They recovered with a 4 – 2 home win over Portsmouth. They lost at MK Dons before winning away to Hartlepool. Their last two home matches have ended in draws, 2 – 2 against Swindon Town and 0 – 0 with Crewe Alexandra. Last Saturday they travelled to Coventry City where they won 2 – 1.
The top goalscorers are Jake Jervis and Robson with three each. Jervis on loan from Birmingham City scored both goals in the home match with Swindon. Danny Cadamarteri once of Everton has two goals, including the opening goal against Coventry from the penalty spot.
Carlisle have a young goalkeeper, Mark Gillespie who took over from the experienced Adam Collin at the start of the month. They have experience, however in defence with full back Frank Simek who played over 100 games for Sheffield Wednesday while their longest serving player is defender Peter Murphy who has made 400 appearances for the club since joining in 2001. In midfield Paul Thirwell has played for Sunderland, Sheffield United and Derby County.
Andre Villas-Boas will make changes to his team with players like Michael Dawson and Tom Huddlestonen likely to get their first start of the season. Younger players may also have an opportunity to play – Andros Townsend, Tom Carroll and Adam Smith. It had been thought that Hugo Lloris would start in goal but Carlo Cudicini or Heurelho Gomes may take on the goalkeeping duties. With Emmanuel Adebayor still out with injury the options for change upfront are limited.
Although there are more important games ahead and he will need to rotate his squad, Villas-Boas will want to avoid any unwelcome ‘giant-killing’ headlines in tomorrow’s papers. It might not be pleasant against Carlisle on a cold, wet and windy evening at Brunton Park if recent weather conditions are a guide but Tottenham will need to show their professionalism and application to ensure qualification for the next Round of a tournament which Villas-Boas would like to add to the club’s honours list this season.