The Tottenham fans will have to boo with quite some vigour to be heard by Thomas Frank at St James\u2019 Park but we\u2019re sure they\u2019ll manage.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also a very Big Midweek for Mohamed Salah whether he starts or not for Liverpool. Leeds will need more than \u201cpride and confidence\u201d to get anything out of a game against this Chelsea side. And who\u2019s that in fourth? When did that happen?!<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Manager to watch: Thomas Frank<\/strong><\/p>\n Absolutely right to call out the \u201cnot real Tottenham fans\u201d for booing Guglielmo Vicario, as the \u2018lost dressing room\u2019 outcome of not standing up for one of your players beats \u2018irking fans calling for you head\u2019 all day long in the game of sacking Top Trumps that Frank is currently engaged in as Tottenham manager.<\/p>\n But branding it \u201cunacceptable\u201d grants ample space for the irate fans to throw that term right back in his face<\/a><\/strong>, and we suspect the away fans on Tuesday will test his revelation that \u201cI\u2019m fine with them booing after the match\u201d with an almighty chorus should they lose their fourth Premier League game in five games.<\/p>\n Which looks pretty likely. Spurs may sit second in the away table,<\/a><\/strong> just one point behind Arsenal at the top, but they were embarrassed by the Gunners at the Emirates, have lost all of their last four visits to St James\u2019 Park by an aggregate score of 14-1 and are facing Newcastle at the worst possible time this season on the back of victories over Manchester City and Everton as they really look to be kicking into gear.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Player to watch: Mohamed Salah<\/strong><\/p>\n Arne Slot, honest to a fault and having already suggested Salah was rested amid a busy schedule for Liverpool\u2019s much-needed victory over West Ham on Sunday, couldn\u2019t help but subsequently imply that the Egyptian was indeed dropped<\/a><\/strong> because of the problems he\u2019s causing the team through refusing or at least failing to defend.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way they set up with a full-back that\u2019s constantly high and a winger who\u2019s inside, I thought this would help the team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Slot insisted Salah will still \u201chave a very good future at this club\u201d, hailing him as a \u201cspecial player\u201d, but no amount of positive affirmation will placate the Reds legend should he not start against Sunderland on Wednesday, which may very well be a line-in-the-sand game even if he does.<\/p>\n If Salah\u2019s on the bench there will be a media frenzy on the assumption that Slot no longer fancies him, with at least one Anfield camera glued to him on the sidelines to capture the delicious rift-creating reaction from a footballer hardly renowned for taking snubs in good grace.<\/p>\n If he starts and Liverpool return to the doldrums then that\u2019s all the ammo anyone will need to consign Salah to the Anfield bin, particularly if Slot takes the scientific approach of only changing him as the one variable in search of the biggest problem.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Game to watch: Leeds v Chelsea<\/strong><\/p>\n While insisting \u201cwe didn\u2019t come here for warm words or compliments\u201d after Phil Foden\u2019s last minute goal denied them a point at the Etihad, Daniel Farke insisted his Leeds players \u201cshould take lots of pride and lots of confidence\u201d from the game.<\/p>\n Frankly, his full XI plus substitutes could all play with the pride of dads on their daughter\u2019s wedding day and the confidence of poker players with pocket aces and not get anywhere near Chelsea on current form, even if the Leeds fans create the sort of febrile atmosphere which typically greets a football team they want to beat more than most.<\/p>\n After dismissing Barcelona in the Champions League, Chelsea entered the title race with a very impressive draw with Arsenal. And while the Blues playing with ten men for most of that game offers the possibility of tired legs and \u2013 crucially after his outstanding performance \u2013 a likely rest for Reece James, along with the suspension of Moises Caicedo, Enzo Maresca\u2019s frequent rotation has made very little difference to their performance of late, and Leeds can\u2019t be too enamoured with the idea of that rotation seeing Cole Palmer\u2019s long-awaited return to action.<\/p>\n