Tottenham Hotspur head coach Tim Sherwood will be aware that his side cannot afford to slip up against Cardiff City if they want to retain hope of qualifying for the Champions League.

Spurs' 1-0 defeat at Norwich City last weekend saw them fall six points behind Liverpool, while they will be keen to maintain a five-point gap over Manchester United who sit in sixth place.

Sherwood could keep faith with Roberto Soldado, while defender Kyle Walker is expected to return after recovering from a hip injury.

Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan has insisted that he continues to support manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, despite the Bluebirds sitting just a point off the foot of the table.

The former Manchester United striker has lost six of his 10 games in charge, and a seventh at White Hart Lane could see Cardiff fall further behind their relegation rivals.

Solskjaer could keep faith with the front duo of Fraizer Campbell and Kenwyne Jones, while Peter Whittingham is in line to make a return in midfield.

Recent form

Tottenham Hotspur: DWWLLW

Cardiff City: LWLDLL

Possible starting lineups

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris; Walker, Naughton, Dawson, Vertonghen; Bentaleb, Lennon, Dembele, Eriksen; Soldado, Adebayor

Cardiff City: Marshall; Fabio, Taylor, Caulker, Torres Ruiz; Whittingham, Noone, Cowie, Zaha; Jones, Campbell

Sports Mole says: 3-1

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