Mauricio Pochettino has made four changes from the team that faced Manchester United in midweek, and perhaps the most interesting one is at the back.
Thiago Silva is on the bench, with Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile making up the central defensive partnership. Silva has been criticised a lot for his form this season, but so far Pochettino has stayed impressively loyal to his veteran.
Now given his age, we don’t expect Silva to play twice a week. This switch would likely have been made even if he was in the best form of his career. Much like Reece James, Silva is clearly only considered suitable for 90 minutes a week max.
But the fact that he’s rested means that we get to see a new central defensive partnership, and if this pair do better than we’ve been doing with Silva in the team, they could well keep their places next week.
So while Silva has been “dropped” per se, this could still end up being the beginning of the end for him.