In Friday’s pre-match press conference, Marco Silva was full of praise for Ange Postecoglou and the “brave” football he’s got his Tottenham Hotspur side playing.
The Australian has settled quickly in North London, with Spurs looking a fairly safe bet to be playing Champions League football next term.
“A great job from Ange, no doubts about it,” Silva said of his counterpart. “Big, big transformation.
“I'm not talking about the club because I'm not there, but the way the team plays. I can tell there is a big, big change in the way they play – the approach and the way they have been brave, the quality as well.
“They started so, so strong. Of course, during the season you can have some ups and downs, but they’ve been really brave. Difficult to play against, and credit for him.
“And for the players, because it’s not just the manager, the players have to understand, and they understood clearly what was the idea, they bought into it for sure, and you can see that on the pitch.”
Saturday’s late kick-off will mark a third meeting with Spurs this season, with the spoils shared so far – we knocked them out of the League Cup back in August, before they took the points at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a couple of months later.
“It’s going to be the third time that we're going to play against them,” Silva stated. “We lost away, we went through in the Carabao Cup against them at home.
“If you asked me if I would like to repeat the same performance that we had at Craven Cottage when we played against them in the Carabao Cup, I would love it because we played really well that game.
“We controlled them well, against a brave side and a top quality side. We were really brave as well to play in the way we wanted and to make life really difficult for them. And, of course, it's going to be the same approach tomorrow, knowing that they are a really difficult side to play.
“Any time that you make a mistake, they can punish you with the threat that they have in the attack line, always with [James] Maddison, [Yves] Bissouma and [Pape] Sarr, or [Rodrigo] Bentancur, ready to provide for the attacking players.
“Different setup from the two full-backs, but full-backs that can really make a difference in the attacking line as well. And because of that they can create all these problems for the opposition sides.
“It’s up to us to have a good and very strong approach. On the ball, I know that we are going to create problems for them.”
Marco Silva confirmed that all players are available for selection this weekend.
On Rodrigo Muniz's turn in form Marco said "I think the first goal was really important. The way he's been playing, he's a really difficult one for the opposition to control. Everyone feels the confidence, it's the best feeling when your team-mates believe in you. It's a really good competition between the three [Raul Jimenez and Armando Broja]."
On players' contracts expiring in the summer Marco said "We have three players [out of contract], Tosin [Adarabioyo], Bobby [de Cordova-Reid] and Kenny [Tete]. They are three players we would like to keep because they are important to us, they are the furniture of this club. We have been trying to renew with him [Tosin], let's hope we can have news as soon as possible."