Bigger test for Bale

After beating Inter, Paul Merson says Gareth Bale and Spurs will find things tougher at Bolton.

Tougher challenges lie in store for Spurs' new star

People have started to say Gareth Bale is one of the best players in the world. I'm not having that. He's a good player and he had two outstanding games against Inter Milan, I like the way he crosses the ball with pace and he's always got his head up. But two games don't make you a world-class footballer. I watched him last Saturday against Manchester United and he never got a kick. It was the same against Everton the week before that. He did great on Tuesday night, but Rafael Benitez got his tactics embarrassingly wrong. Bale was ripping them apart in the first half and he didn't really change anything to stop it. He brought on Nwankwo Oblora and he was shocking. Everton did a job on him a couple of weeks ago and Bolton will look to do the same on Saturday. You can guarantee that when Bolton are working on their shape for this game they'll make sure it revolves around stopping Bale. That hasn't happened too often before. This is when it gets hard for him and this is when we'll find out how good he is. The top, top players churn out great performances every week. Someone like Ryan Giggs will do it, even when teams are doubling up on him. So Bolton is a big test for Bale and it will be a tough game for Tottenham after that great performance against Inter. They're in a hard group and they look like going through, so you have to give them credit for doing a great job on the European champions. But everybody knows that going to Bolton is a difficult game, especially in the early kick-off. Playing in the Champions League is hard and will have taken a lot out of the Spurs players - and Bolton will be fresh and ready for them. We saw that when Bolton played Liverpool last week. That was a really even game and should have finished in a draw, but Liverpool got a bit of luck that they haven't had so far this season. Bolton have nothing to be ashamed of after that defeat and can go into this game full of confidence. Tottenham look like they will be without Rafael van der Vaart, which is interesting because he's been outstanding so far. In games when they haven't played well, he's popped up with a goal. He plays off Peter Crouch very well - and even though Crouch has been getting stick, I think he's done some good work for Spurs this year. He'll have to do some work here because I don't think Harry Redknapp will start with two strikers. After a tiring midweek game I think he'll load the midfield and play a variation of a 4-5-1. It will be a battle in the midfield and I'm pretty sure Bolton won't let Gareth Bale run from the half-way line and have 15-yard run-ups on the full-back! PAUL'S PREDICTION
DRAW - If Tottenham can come away with a draw here, I think that would be a very good result. They may have just beaten the Champions League winners, but I think they may have to settle for a 1-1 draw at the Reebok Stadium.

MERSON'S MAGIC MAN
BOLTON'S RIGHT-HAND SIDE - Whoever plays on the right for Bolton - possibly Gretar Rafn Steinsson and Chung-Yong Lee - will have a lot to do with Bale after all that's been said this week. It's not just about stopping him, but stopping him from getting the ball. They need to cut out angles and make sure he can't run with it. If the ball doesn't get to his feet he can't do much with it!