Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has predicted that Tottenham will squeeze out a 2-1 win when they visit the Vitality Stadium to take on Bournemouth this weekend.
Tottenham are heading into Sunday’s clash after crashing out of the Champions League at the hands of Italian giants Juventus.
Prior to that, Spurs had comfortably overcome Huddersfield 2-0 in the Premier League, a result that solidified their position in the top four.
Opponents Bournemouth are coming in off the back of two successive draws against Newcastle and Leicester, with the Cherries currently sitting in 12th in the table.
In his predictions for Sky Sports, Merson said: “There’s got to be a Champions League hangover for Tottenham. They were cruising along, 1-0 up, and then three minutes later they’re out. It’ll have an effect. They’ll have one eye on next week in the FA Cup, and another season without winning anything.
“I think Spurs will win, but if Bournemouth are on it they could get something, most definitely. They have a go, they open up and have a go. Sometimes they get punished for it, but sometimes it pays off. I like the way they play.”
Son Heung-min had put Spurs 1-0 up on the night and 3-2 up in the tie when he opened the scoring in the first-half against Juventus, but two goals in three second-half minutes put paid to their European hopes for another season.
The South Korean has now scored each of Spurs’ last three goals after he netted twice in their 2-0 win over Huddersfield last weekend.
OPINION
We will see one of two Tottenham’s this weekend. Either Mauricio Pochettino’s men will come out firing on all cylinders in reaction to their gut-wrenching Champions League exit, or there is, as Merson expects, a European hangover. The danger for Spurs here is if they fail to come away with a win against Bournemouth then confidence will be seriously drained. That would be seriously worrying ahead of their FA Cup quarter-final against Swansea next weekend, in a competition which represents the club’s last chance of silverware this season.