Is defeat to Tottenham Hotspur this weekend a grim inevitability?

Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity was “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If that’s the case then you could logically conclude that Eddie Howe belongs in an asylum - if the way he’s had us set up against the elite sides in the Premier League is any indication at least.

Despite possessing inferior players - if only on a purely technical level - he insists on going up against almost every side he faces with the same (if not very similar) tactics. That got us burnt badly last season against the better sides, and it looks like this campaign will see history repeat itself.

There were famous wins against Chelsea and Manchester United last year of course, but those were also joined by several humblings. The worst of these were handed out by Manchester City - and this weekend’s opponents Tottenham Hotspur.

Against the North London outfit we were swept aside 3-0 at White Hart Lane (one of the most one-sided encounters I have ever seen - not a great away day) and 5-1 at Dean Court.

With this in mind you’d think we would logically look to adopt a new plan to give ourselves the best chance of competing with Mauricio Pochettino’s side - one that means we don’t get splatted like a bug on a windscreen, like in our previous two encounters. But you know what? I don’t think we will.

Eddie Howe doesn’t just live or die by the sword, he’s also happy to be humiliated by it if necessary - and seems willing to have us set to our default attack mode regardless of who we play. I’ve already seen evidence of that this campaign when we visited Manchester City, where I watched us try to play our way up the pitch - but our backline simply ended up being pressed high we were outclassed from the off, getting tonked 4-0.

Yes, Manchester City were superb on the day - but no other side in the Premier League has gone to the Etihad this season and lost by that many. Even Sunderland - yes, Sunderland - only lost to a 87th minute own goal when they visited the blue half of Manchester a couple of months ago.

So with that in mind do we realistically stand any chance against Spurs this Saturday? As a natural pessimist - I try to be a realist you know, but it’s just too difficult - I would say no.

Looking at the matches Tottenham have struggled in this season is no source of comfort either. West Bromich Albion, a gritty defensive outfit, almost beat Spurs for instance - but we simply don’t have the right personnel to play the way Tony Pulis prefers. Even if we did, Howe would never look to have his team set up in that way - and, overall, I’m very happy about that (despite the many thrashings I’ve had to witness as a result).

Monaco in the Champions League beat Spurs with a pretty defensive set-up as well, with the French side conceding the lion’s share of the possession to the North London outfit - but there’s no way Eddie will intentionally set us up like that either.

So with that in mind we do worryingly seem to be very much lambs to the slaughter this weekend - but despite the defeatist tone of this article I will say that there is some hope for us this weekend. Even if by ‘hope’ I mean hope of losing by a smaller margin than in last season’s fixture.

One thing in our favour is that we look a far more competent side defensively this season - one goal conceded in our last three home games is a testament to that. I also think we look a more experienced and tidier side overall - with Junior Stanislas stepping up to give us the quality in dead ball situations I thought we might lack after Matt Ritchie left in the summer, and Callum Wilson looking increasingly like his old self after being out through injury for so long.

We’re also in a much better vein of form now than when we last played Tottenham at home - we had just come off a 5-1 caning at Manchester City last year, whereas this campaign we’re coming off the back of walloping Hull City 6-1.

The other ray of hope is that Tottenham have actually looked vulnerable when attacked at times this season - Everton had them on the ropes for the first half at Goodison for instance, and Middlesbrough pushed them in the last 30 minutes of the match at the Riverside.

And finally, but possibly most importantly, Spurs will likely travel to the south coast without centre back Toby Alderweireld and striker Harry Kane fully fit - the former out of the squad, and the latter still being nursed back to full fitness. When you consider that Kane scored five goals against us last season it surely can only work in our favour to not have him on the pitch.

So yes, I fear the worst this weekend - but that could well make any kind of result we do manage to grab all the sweeter…