Tottenham is looking to trade their current UEFA Cup seeding for next year’s Champions League. Martin Jol is looking to better last year’s 5th place finish and has splashed out the cash on Bulgarian striker, Dimitar Berbatov, to fire in the goals for the faithful at White Heart Lane.

In their first fixture away at the Reebox Stadium against Bolton, it was a tale of two pre-seasons, as Spurs looked to continue their winning ways against a side that showed struggling form in their build up to the league opener.

Spurs were stunned within the opening minutes as Bolton cheated their way to their first goal from off a set piece. As Kevin Davies pulled free to the near post to head home from the corner kick, his marker was tugged down to the ground behind him to allow for the space. Minutes later, ex-Real Madrid center-back, Ivan Campos (Bolton’s creative midfielder) fired home a 40+ lawn cutter that left England No. 1, Paul Robinson, pulling the ball out of his net a second time.

Despite the small setback, Tottenham responded well in mid-week, in their 2-0 victory at home over EPL new-boys Sheffield United. This time Berbatov supplied the expected, by opening the scoring in the early minutes as he fired home a cross supplied by Spurs teenage winger, Aaron Lennon. Berbatov was instrumental for the second goal as well as he headed down for Jermaine Jenas to open his new league season account.

Tottenham will face Everton in their third game and face another tough, blue-collar opponent in David Moyes’ men. Has Berbatov settled after Tottenham’s hiccup against Bolton? Or, will stingy English defenses keep Berbatov at bay?

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 26th, 2006 at 3:11 am and is filed under Soccer World, England, Rick Wall (Head Editor). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.